Just Looking ...

I was reading one of our classmates' post about Shopping in Seoul, and this girl In-Young Seo came up on my mind immediately. She is a popular Korean singer who created the image or the label of a "Brand-New Girl." She publicly said that she likes to shop things that are "new arrivals" even before anybody buys it, and she does not like to buy things that are classic that everybody has. Then girls in middle class (as mentioned in Shopping in Seoul, this group of people are very much enthusiastic and followers) immediately copied her, of course in their own way. In addition, Korean media started advertising using the term "brand-new girl" in their ads. This particular picture is an ad from Maybelline New York, and its CEO is happy that using the term and image of In-Young increased the profit very much. It makes sense that the profit increased because Maybelline brand is suitable in terms of budget for these girls.

There are also middle class people who criticize this popular culture. However, they themselves are unconsciously following the practice, and want to become like her and have things that she has. So these people would often buy, for example, immitated shoes that she once wore at the show program. So I thought of Fiske's theory that popular culture is tasteless. Unlike the girls in upper class, these middle class girls follow whatever in the popular culture, in this particular example, to become a "brand-new girl."