Consumer Crazy

The media plays a substantial part in determining how society perceives the word 'cool'. There are endless advertisements for food, clothes, electronics, and the like, and they make it seem as if owning the product will make one's fantasy world complete. By making advertisements attractive enough for consumers to believe the suger-coated lies is exactly what the companies strive to do, and when people fall for the advertisements, the products soon become the latest craze. It will turn into the 'in' thing to have, and to own whatever was advertised is a sign of fitting in and being part of the 'in' crowd. Many advertisements are directed at adolescents, perhaps because they do not understand how to use money wisely enough yet, and peer pressure is extremely influential at their age. When companies realize that teenagers will continually buy products from them, then of course they'll keep making improvements and the next time something new comes out, there will be a continuous stream of consumers, and thus the cycle continues.

I myself own some brand name products, so of course these advertisements have affected me as well. Once more and more people starting buying the same thing, it will be labeled as something worth owning, in order to fit in. This is the case with many teenagers, because competition is always very heated in adolescent years, and teenagers want other peers to admire them, perhaps be jealous of them, for owning something that's brand name or new. However, I don't believe brand name products are the best, or necessary. Having a normal mp3 player or buying clothing that's not from a brand name store doesn't necessarily make anyone inferior to another. I admit that sometimes I am envious of my friends if they have something sleek and cool that I can't have, or a product that's considered the latest 'craze', but I don't tell myself that I must have it, because I'm aware that all this consumer craziness is due to overrated advertisements. Besides, even if I get new products, there will be new and improved ones after that, and the product consumption will just continue. The media and advertising has, without a doubt, brainwashed people into seeing what's 'cool or not'. I think if people can find some individuality and avoid concerning themselves so much over having the latest products from a company, they will be able to feel more satisfied with themselves. Listening to what the media has to say is really a horrible way of suppressing one's own opinions and decisions, because the media and advertising lie to turn things around to make them seem wonderful. The best solution is to listen to yourself, and not what the advertisements have to say for you.