In your reading about Generation Y, you have undoubtedly seen piles and piles of publications and articles that proclaim this generation as marketing-savvy. I have also seen these articles; in fact, reading about my generation inspired me to launch this website.

Unfortunately, you and I have been gravely misled.

Some researcher, somewhere, decreed that since Gen Y grew up with advertising, they have grown thick-skinned to marketing. This made sense to journalists and media agencies everywhere, and thus began the wave of articles about how Gen Y was some kind of superintelligent consumer. These consumers are apparently like an antibiotic-resistant viral strain. Substitute where needed to make that analogy work.

Exposure does not make you an expert
I moved to Canada from the Philippines when I was ten. One of the first ads I saw on Canadian soil was in Pearson Airport, where a Toronto Maple Leafs player was posing in a “got milk?” poster. Hockey, I would soon find, was everywhere. Someone was always talking about it, every third commercial seemed to relate to it and my street was always home to pickup hockey.

The mere exposure to hockey did not make me hockey-savvy. I knew that whoever had more goals won the game, but I didn’t know anything about the strategy or tactics involved. I knew that Doug Gilmour was one of our best players, but I didn’t know what he did that made him “the best”. All I knew was that my friends liked him, so I also liked him.

Similarly, if someone grows up surrounded by advertising, does that make them advertising-savvy? Do they know the psychological tactics involved, the purpose of brand messages, and all the work that goes into making an ad say “you need to own this product“?

Generation Y is a bunch of marketing suckers
Gen Y’s lifelong exposure to media hasn’t “thickened their skin” to marketing. Lifelong exposure makes them accept advertising as a normal part of their lives. We were introduced to brands so early in life that they’ve contributed to large parts of our childhood. This exposure has taught us that it’s normal to become emotionally attached to brands. Hell, just writing about my childhood reminds me of McDonald’s Playplace and Happy Meals.

As advertising continues to slowly permeate every piece of our lives, kids are implicitly being raised by corporate logos and “brand experiences”. My two-year old nephew can’t even pronounce his own name, but whenever someone mentions “Toys R Us” he loses his mind.

The archetypes and values of this generation are embedded in commercials, slogans and marketing. Young, aspiring golfers don’t look up to Tiger Woods. They look up to Tiger Woods as sponsored by Nike.