Picture this in your head: You are standing in front of the
mirror, adoring how your new white shirt fits you perfectly. Suddenly, your
visage morphs into a new you. Into an older you, I mean. Your face has visible
wrinkles, the hair is half grey, and you sport a paunch protruding from the new
white shirt. You get the picture right? Congratulations. Now imagine you're
having a conversation with your older self.
"Hey, wassup?"
"Ah, don't ask. Office work all the time."
"Oh. Cool."
"What, son?"
"Err...nothing. Hey, you do seem a bit old,
and...weary."
"Heh. Do I?"
Come back from the nightmare. You have enough troubles already. Go
listen to some Akon now. And pretend to be cool, while you can.
We generally associate ourselves with some peer groups in our circles
which we think are hipper than the others. Let's accept it; we all have had
instances of trying-to-fit-in, and still have. The chick who comes
in your college bus was wearing chic footwear, and how can you NOT have a
pair?? The neighborhood stud has bought himself a fab R15; what the heck
do your mum and dad mean when they say "You don't need a motorbike
now"?? Parents are totally uncool. Would we end up like them someday?
Would 'hip' change from something we are described as, to something we put
our hands on while shouting at our kids? Geez. We are so freakin' cool
now, aren't we?
Look at Cool as a marketing strategy. Cool sells, no matter what.
When Steve Jobs died, he left behind a legacy of Cool. People adore the Iphone
because it's cool. You wrote 'R.I.P Steve!' on your Facebook Wall because : it
was cool to do so, even if you previously had no idea who this guy was. Steve
got it bang on. So did Mark Zuckerberg. They now have the whole world using
their cool products, however inherently flawed those products may be. Mr. Apple
Cool might at this moment be laughing all the way to the bank in Heaven, with a
design for another app in mind.
Cool can also be seen as a make-up to hide our scars. We are all
flawed too, just like the products we mindlessly consume. You can be good
at nothing and have practically no talent at all, but can still be
considered uber-chic if you hang out with a certain selection of friends,
frequent certain happening pubs, listen to a particular kind of music that does
not have a meaning. Who cares? We don't give a bloody damn as long as we're
gaped at with awe by everyone. All style, no substance...but we still have the tashan babe!
So you have it in the open, staring you in the face. Forget the
Information Age, or the Digital Age. Or whatever. This is The Age of Cool. And
we aren't getting old anytime soon. We have Pond’s
Age Miracle for that, don't
we? Yeah. Cool shirt, by the way.
