‘Yolo’ in entertainment hit for promoting consumerism
“Yolo” is a hot keyword these days, spreading rapidly as a trend among young people. As a counter reaction to the reality the younger generation faces of its uncertain future, the term has quickly spread as a new mantra to lead their lives.
“Yolo” is an acronym for “you only live once” which is similar to the Latin phrase “carpe diem” which means “seize the day.” Both imply that one should live his or her life to the fullest, but Yolo encourages young people to enjoy life even if that may entail taking risks because there’s only one life and if not now, there may be not another chance.
As the Yolo lifestyle has become a hot trend on social media, such as Instagram, many companies are using the term as part of their marketing plans to lure young consumers. The travel and tourism industry may be the biggest beneficiary of the concept, as it encourages young people to travel and take risks.
Recently TV channels have jumped in the current, applying Yolo to their programs as their underlying theme and concept. Yolo on TV programs is used as a way to enjoy life by traveling, dining, purchasing goods and relaxing. However, TV entertainment shows using “Yolo” as their concept are being criticized for promoting consumerism.
MBC’s “Infinite Challenge” is an example, which aired a “Yolo special edition” on its internal segment “Hidden Card,” Saturday. The first of the two-part series featured members who were given a card worth 3,999,990 won to spend. Members spent it buying scooters, bicycles, drones and expensive items and even ended up buying things that they didn’t need just to use all the money on their cards.
After the show, viewers expressed discomfort saying “Yolo is not a term created to encourage spending.”
Netizens with IDs wesb**** and choh**** said, “Did Yolo mean spending money extravagantly?” and “Celebrities spending money is not Yolo.” Nevertheless, the program managed to attract viewers with its promotion of consumerism with a 12 percent viewer rating (Nielson Korea), up from 10 percent.
Olive TV, a cable food network, also aired a similar program on May 11 called “One million won on one sudden day.”
A group of musicians were given one million won to use it in whatever way. Some used it for traveling to Cebu and the U.S. and others used it for dining and other purchases. Singer Taecyeon of boy band 2PM was the only person who used the one million won to the fullest, by booking flights, renting a car and doing as much as he could with the money given to him.
Again, viewers of this program were critical of what they saw. Comments followed, such as “It’s questionable that one million won is the appropriate amount to deliver a message about frugality,” worrying that it would lower the value of one million won to viewers who are still young.
The program led people to reminisce about an old program called “The happiness of 10,000 won” aired from 2003 to 2008 which gave 10,000 won to celebrities to last for a week.