Grade school - toe socks were so in! The trend in my school was started by the 'popular girl'
When applying this concept to food, 'cool by association', I tend to think of watching influential T.V. shows like 'Friends' or 'Gossip Girl'. The women are beautiful, thin, wanted, and loved - assumingly because they are beautiful and thin. They also seem to either never eat, or eat only classy, healthy foods (think Sushi, or fine-dining)...or drink a lot of vodka. There's a song about how a girl is depressed because she "Will never be as pretty, as the girls on 'Friends'". What are we setting our nation up for, especially the young, influential girls, if often portrayed on T.V. is an unattainable ideal?
Look at any 'Sex in the City' episode or movie. They are always eating out, drinking Cosmo's, and never gain a pound. They are living the dream in New York, and often I wish I could do the same...I would love to be 'cool by association' and feel content in that environment....so the short and sweet of it is: Very few people can live the lifestyle of the girls in 'Friends', 'Gossip Girl', or 'Sex in the City' without gaining some weight, becoming broke, or having an unhealthy lifestyle. We are influenced by what we watch - and unfortunately even us knowing this doesn't mean we are going to stop watching these shows; they allow us to fantasize....and the commercials in between don't help our cause of trying to avoid junk food...
Lastly, on the topic of fantasizing comes in product placement again. We sometime idolize these characters represented in the shows, and will use what they use as it seems to work, and because we respect what these fake, non-existent characters use for reliable products; we sometimes base our decisions off their decisions. Is this messed up or what?
Anyways, I'm off to watch 'Sex and the City'...time for food!
References
http://www.docstoc.com/docs/16365132/Psychology-of-Product-Placement
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