The hollow orange

📰 Seth Godin's Blog

Seth Godin discusses the concept of "hollow oranges" - content that appears appealing but lacks substance, often created by AI without care or oversight.

intermediate Published 18 Mar 2026
Action Steps
  1. Identify the characteristics of hollow oranges, such as polished appearance but lack of substance
  2. Recognize the examples of hollow oranges in different forms of content, such as streaming series, books, and AI-generated content
  3. Consider the importance of care and oversight in content creation to avoid producing hollow oranges
  4. Reflect on the solution to hollow oranges, which is not to create more of them, but to focus on creating content with substance and value
Who Needs to Know This

Content creators, marketers, and product managers can benefit from understanding the concept of hollow oranges to create more meaningful and engaging content for their audience.

Key Insight

💡 The solution to hollow oranges is not to create more of them, but to focus on creating content with substance and value

Share This
💡 Beware of "hollow oranges" - content that looks great but lacks substance #contentcreation #marketing

Key Takeaways

Seth Godin discusses the concept of "hollow oranges" - content that appears appealing but lacks substance, often created by AI without care or oversight.

Full Article

Published Time: 2026-03-18T09:03:00+00:00

# The hollow orange | Seth's Blog

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## [The hollow orange](https://seths.blog/2026/03/the-hollow-orange/)

It’s tempting but useless.

The skin is unblemished and the perfect color. It’s well displayed, promoted widely and on sale.

But there’s nothing inside. It’s not worth eating and certainly not worth sharing.

This is the streaming series with great lighting and talented actors, based on a beloved novel, but it’s empty and we fade after one or two episodes.

This is the book with a polished author photo, pre-written blurbs and plenty of footnotes, created by a ghostwriter and edited by committee.

And it’s almost any content created by AI without care or oversight.

The solution to hollow oranges isn’t more of them.

March 18, 2026

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