This blog post examines the causes behind the phenomenon where people and objects are overvalued beyond their actual substance in a society that prioritizes looks and image.
Long ago in Korea, an incident where three university students successfully crossed the Han River on a raft made of snacks became a major social issue. At the time, they posted a video of their river crossing online to criticize the problem of excessive packaging by Korean confectionery companies, drawing widespread sympathy. As a result, the catchphrase “I bought nitrogen, but the snacks came as a service” spread, bringing the term ‘excessive packaging’ back into the spotlight. This trend soon became an opportunity for consumers to criticize not just physical products, but the exaggeration and lack of transparency prevalent throughout society.
Moreover, recent socially controversial incidents have seen media outlets and individuals criticized for exaggerating specific facts. For instance, Pyo Chang-won, director of the Crime Science Institute, criticized journalists as “garbage journalists” on a broadcast program for exaggerating reports related to the Suwon dismembered body case. He accused them of linking the perpetrator to “cannibalism and organ trafficking” and using terms like “confidence” to sensationalize the story. This reporting practice, which sensationalizes events to attract public attention, fosters distrust in the media and makes the media itself feel like an ‘overhyped’ product. Thus, in modern society, the term ‘overhyped’ extends beyond products and is used in various forms across multiple domains like media, politics, and entertainment.
Why is the term ‘overpackaging’ so frequently used and influential in modern society? To understand this question, we need to examine the background of this concept’s expansion by comparing the past and present. Even in the past, consumers recognized problems with companies seeking profit through overpackaging, and movements against it, along with government measures, were consistently implemented. For example, a June 19, 1973, article in the Dong-A Ilbo introduced a campaign titled ‘Stop Deceptive Packaging That Misleads Consumers’. Consequently, the Fair Trade Commission established appropriate packaging standards and enforced crackdowns. Thus, the issue of excessive packaging has been consistently raised since the past, but at that time, it was primarily used as a concept limited to physical goods.
In modern times, the term ‘excessive packaging’ extends beyond products to describe nearly any situation exaggerated beyond reality. People now use the word ‘excessive packaging’ in diverse contexts: inflating one’s experience and credentials during job interviews, programs using flashy exaggerations to outshine competitors, or celebrities whose fame far exceeds their actual achievements. As media has developed, people have gained more opportunities to present themselves, and the tendency to use these to craft one’s image has grown stronger, making ‘overpackaging’ an everyday phenomenon.
This spread of overpackaging is linked to several social factors. First, the societal emphasis on external factors has been maximized by the development of SNS and internet media, naturally encouraging external ‘overpackaging’. In modern society, what is seen is often regarded as a key element of competitiveness and self-expression. Representative examples include photo editing on social media, excessive makeup, or actions aimed at enhancing appearance, which are common even among adolescents. Even elementary school students are following trends like drawing eyeliner with computer pens, and it’s commonplace for middle and high school students to wear makeup daily to achieve a more mature look. The program ‘Face-Chan Era,’ which gained immense popularity several years ago, spread the culture of uploading more perfectly edited versions of one’s face online, instilling in youth the importance of external factors. This phenomenon reinforces appearance-obsessed values and further fuels the psychological urge to exaggerate and over-package both oneself and the surrounding world.
Secondly, the fact that everything in modern society is commodified also contributes to the spread of over-packaging. As society increasingly becomes competition-centered, people feel pressured to package themselves like products. Consequently, the concept of ‘over-packaging,’ once limited to goods, has gradually expanded to encompass all aspects: people, experiences, and abilities.
According to Yonhap News, some large corporations even use physical attributes like height and weight as hiring criteria. This makes people more conscious of external factors and encourages them to exaggerate their appearance to seem more attractive. In a society that commodifies everything, including the self, other things are easily overpackaged, and people become more sensitive to this phenomenon. Programs like ‘Let Me In’ clearly illustrate this trend of overpackaging.
This program, where changes in appearance become a ‘product’ that boosts ratings, reveals a facet of modern society where individuals’ lives and looks are treated as thorough commodities. In an era where appearance, personality, and every aspect of life are evaluated as a single ‘brand,’ people tend to inflate not only their own self-image but also everything around them. Ultimately, this exaggeration aligns with the social pressure to stand out even slightly in competition.
In modern society, where what is visible has become a paramount value due to the development of media and social networking services, people began to over-package their own images and, furthermore, create versions of themselves inflated beyond their actual substance. The public may react even more sensitively because they recognize their own daily over-packaging in the confectionery company’s exaggerated packaging. Ultimately, before floating nitrogen-filled snacks on the Han River, we need to reflect on how much effort we ourselves put into maintaining an inflated image. While modern society prioritizes outward appearance over inner substance, it must evolve into a society that evaluates true inner value rather than superficial appearances.
