Spend a weekend in Toronto (or any big city for that matter) and you’re sure to come across a familiar sight: a long, coiling queue with seemingly no end and no beginning.

A curious onlooker stops to ask someone in the thick of it what all the hubbub is about. They get a shrug in response, but line up anyway.

I witnessed this scene twice this weekend. Passing by Toronto’s Eaton Centre, a crowd in the hundreds spilled into the nearly 30-degree heat from somewhere deep inside the belly of the shopping centre. It wasn’t until later that I learned they were waiting to enter an airport-themed pop-up for a luggage brand. The promise? A chance – just the chance – to win a free bag (or water bottle), take photos inside a makeshift cabin or baggage claim area (the kind you’d normally be impatient to get through) and walk away with mini snacks or sample amenity kits (while supplies last).

Earlier that morning, in the city’s West end, I saw another snaking queue at a cavernous old theatre. Did I see them with playbills in hand? No, I watched people walk away with what looked to be tiny plastic food containers.

It was easy to learn the source of the mysterious lines. On TikTok and Instagram, dozens of accounts tracking the latest queues and pop-ups – limited-time store openings and product launches – have amassed followings in the thousands.

To be clear, we’ve been lining up for movie openings, buzzy new restaurants, ski hills and virtual concert ticket queues for years.

Krispy Kreme’s Canadian debut in 2001 saw hours-long wait times and traffic jams. A New York man in 2017 made headlines for charging people to wait out their spot in line for Broadway tickets, Cronuts, iPhones and a chance to sit on Santa’s lap.

What’s changed today is that lineups are multiplying, while the reason for the wait is more dubious. And yet, we keep joining in, and spending.

Virtual services that let people recruit others to stand in line are booming. TaskRabbit Inc.’s line-waiting service saw a 12-per-cent spike in demand for job requests in 2025 compared with 2024, while the duration of the wait also spiked significantly in the last few years.

Globally, sites such as whatisthislinefor.nyc let users track the newest and most notable lineups.

Some Gen Zs are calling it “friction-maxxing” (a nostalgic push to welcome inconvenience in exchange for a reward versus instant gratification). Businesses, meanwhile, call it good publicity.

“In this day and age, when every consumer is a content creator, it’s de facto free advertising,” said Kelly Goldsmith, the E. Bronson Ingram Chair professor of marketing at Vanderbilt University.

Vancouver’s Shein pop-up, for example, went viral when more than 200 people lined up in the rain, creating instant social fodder for TikTok and Instagram.

“One thing that has changed,” said Ms. Goldsmith, “is that firms are increasingly trying to do whatever they can to drive consumers back to brick and mortar stores.

“If you get a consumer in a store, you have a sales associate there kind of selling them up on other products beyond the one they just came for.”

The result is almost always spending more on something we never planned on or needed. So why do so many of us get sucked in?

The fear of missing out is one reason. But it goes beyond that.

“When you see a line outside of Apple it creates social proof,” said Ms. Goldsmith. “It’s the idea that if there’s a line waiting for a product, the product must be good – similar to having a five-star rating.”

And even if there’s nothing free – or even particularly appealing – on the other end, you’re more likely to buy something or take advantage of a measly 15-per-cent discount code if you took time out of your day to wait for it.

“It’s really hard to tell yourself, ‘I waited in line for an hour and it was ‘meh,’” said Ms. Goldsmith. “We retroactively justify our investment.”

What purchase did you find worth waiting in line for (or the opposite)? Drop me a line (no pun intended) at mpostelnyak@globeandmail.com.