The App That Promises to Deliver Happiness Like a Burrito
The Emotional Economy Goes Gig
A digital anthropology study has documented the launch of “Feelr,” a startup that describes itself as “Uber for emotions”promising to deliver specified feelings to users within 30 minutes or the next one’s free. According to analysis in New Media & Society, this represents Silicon Valley’s ultimate frontier: the quantification, packaging, and delivery of human emotional states. “They’re not selling therapy,” notes the researcher, “they’re selling emotional takeout.”
The Menu of Deliverable Feelings
Feelr’s app offers à la carte emotions: $12 for “Moderate Serenity,” $18 for “Confidence Boost (lasts 45 minutes),” $35 for “Genuine Connection” (with disclaimers about actual human interaction). Premium offerings include “Nostalgia Package” ($45, includes curated photos and scents), “Productive Focus” ($28/hour), and the controversial “Romantic Longing” ($60, requires pre-screening). FTC advertising guidelines don’t cover emotional efficacy claims, leaving regulators uncertain whether “80% user-reported satisfaction” constitutes adequate disclosure for something as subjective as delivered happiness.
The “Emotionalists” Workforce
The app employs what it calls “Emotionalists”gig workers trained in basic psychology, acting, and delivery logistics. Their job: arrive at your location embodying the requested emotion, then through conversation, activities, or what the training manual calls “ambient emotional projection,” transfer that state to the client. Researchers documented one Emotionalist cycling through seven emotional deliveries in a single shift: calm to a stressed executive, enthusiasm to a struggling artist, reassurance to someone before a date. The most requested emotion? “Mild contentment,” which reportedly pays worst but involves the least emotional labor.
The Psychological Ethics Quagmire
Can emotions be delivered like pizza? The American Psychological Association’s ethics board has issued warnings about “emotion commodification,” noting that bypassing emotional processing through purchased states may hinder long-term mental health. Yet users report satisfaction, particularly those who see traditional therapy as too slow or intimidating. As one customer explained while receiving her $22 “Morning Optimism”: “My therapist wants to explore why I’m unhappy. Feelr just brings me happiness. Sometimes you want the vegetable, sometimes you want the candy.”
The Uncomfortable Questions
Feelr raises fundamental questions about emotion in the digital age: If we can order confidence before a presentation, are we cheating or efficiently meeting needs? When an Emotionalist leaves after delivering “connection,” what happens to the client’s actual loneliness? The startup’s founders frame it as “democratizing emotional well-being,” but critics call it “emotional fast food”satisfying immediately but potentially undermining deeper nourishment. As the study concludes: “We’ve reached the point where even our inner lives are subject to on-demand service models. The question isn’t whether Feelr works (users say it does), but whether what works is what’s best, or simply what’s most conveniently billable.” The Emotionalists, for their part, report high burnout rates and are considering unionizing for better emotional hazard pay.