The year 2006 saw the launch of the now very popular MTV Overdrive. Why? Because MTV recognized that so many teenagers were watching their programming that they could make even more money by connecting audiences to their internet site and offering exclusive web clips and promos. Brilliant!
From a business standpoint, MTV knows exactly what they’re doing to ensure that they stay at the top of broadcasting for ages 12-22. According to an A.C. Neilson Co. survey, an American who lives to be 65 years old will spend 9 years of their life in front of the TV! So MTV is brilliant when it comes to marketing. Get this, executives of MTV were interviewed and asked how they keep up with current teen trends and stay on the cutting edge. Do you know what their answer was? I was a little disturbing. They laughed, and said, we don’t chase the trends, we set them. We tell teenagers what to buy, how to dress, what is cool, and what is popular. Whoa! I’m not picking on MTV here, there are many different broadcasting companies that operate under the same principle.
We’re very concerned with staying on top of what’s cool and keeping up appearances. We have to make sure that we fit in. Why? Does that carry over into church? Do we keep up appearances here? It’s definitely food for thought. In what ways do we buy into the hype and the fads and the trends?
I often wonder what items that seem so cool to me now, in 10 years will seem ridiculous. This is what I’ve been thinking about this week as I’ve spent inordinate amounts of time trying to figure out my new cell phone, which by the way is pink. Why? Because pink phones are cool … and I rest my case. I bet if a few years, I’ll look back and go, what was I thinking? But for now … I’m part of the pink phone fad. Interesting. What trends and fads do we perpetuate in church?
Food for thought … 
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