These days, we can see and hear ‘YOLO’ everywhere. Considering this, we can think of YOLO as 2017’s lifestyle and trend. What is the YOLO that has emerged as 2017’s lifestyle and trend? Why are people enthusiastic about it?
YOLO is used in the lyrics for the song The Motto, sung by song artist Drake. On line goes, “You only live once: that is the motto,YOLO.” It became a world-famous phrase. YOLO is the abbreviation of ‘You Only Live Once.’ It means that your life happens only one time. You should pursue your happiness presently, and not sacrifice for the future or for others. Some families practice YOLO as a lifestyle as they focus on enjoying their life presently by doing their hobbies and going on trips rather than preparing for old age. This wind of YOLO isn’t only blowing on lifestyles but also on broadcasting and the world economy.
First, in broadcasting there are many programs that reflect the YOLO style. Some of these programs include Forest on Weekend, Yoon’s Restaurantand Hyori’s Lodge. Forest on Weekend is a program about contemporary people who live in the city as they pursue and advance in social values, success, and money. The contestants in this program live with a YOLO family as they search to find their own YOLO style.
Yoon’s Restaurant is a program where contestants build a Korean restaurant on an island near Bali and give Korean food to clients. This program’s purpose is to give respite to busy people in the crowded city.
Hyori’s Lodge is a program where people live in Lee Hyori, Lee Sang Soon’s house. While people live in their house, they do yoga for relaxing and composure, and they eat warm rice.
Concerning the world economy, YOLO families usually have many credit cards. These cards have many benefits. In response to this trend, Sin-Han has a credit card called YOLO-I card and it was made available online last year. This card is for people in their 20’s, 30’s, or families who live the YOLO lifestyle. The Sin Han card company analyzed the YOLO lifestyle and increased rewards for purchases at cafés, convenient stores, and ecommerce. For example, if you are in your 20’s, you have discounts for coffee, bakery items, convenient store purchases, taxi rides, and social commerce.
Also, Samsung distributed a card called Tap-Tap O card last April. This card is similar to YOLO-I card. They follow the trend of choosing benefits based on their lifestyle choices instead of offering uniform discounts.
Likewise, in Korea, YOLO has a positive meaning that you enjoy your present life. However, in America or England, it has a slightly negative meaning. In America or England, it is used in the movie Jackass. It means that life occurs only once so just do what I want, no matter how extreme because we have only one shot. So, it also is used as an interjection before people do very silly or stupid things like suicide.
Life happens once and it is very precious to everyone. It is important for everyone to focus on what they want to do and be happy, but it is also important to live and make plans for the future.
