MTV’s 16 and Pregnant

Children of the MTV generation changed the societal landscape as we know it. They were heavily influenced by the tube and it affected the type of adults they would become. I have friends that will even admit the majority of their education as children came from Seinfeld, The Simpsons and Saved by the Bell. Unfortunately some of the more questionable material that has influenced these young minds has become more and more normalized.

I recently came across the branding for one of MTV’s hottest new reality shows called ’16 and Pregnant’. At first I was sure that it was a joke, and still question whether it may be. After I went to their website I was stunned by what I saw. Graphic techniques used could be perceived as cool. They use colours from a candy shop, friendly rounded fonts, soft gradients and high school sketchbook-style infographs. I can’t believe that they would approach such a serious topic in such a casual manner. I understand how satire and irony can be effectively used in advertising but I believe this makes a mockery of teenage pregnancy. Essentially they advertise how cool it is to bring a baby to school and dress him up in a cute kangaroo hoodie and ridiculous Velcro jacket. The most absurd item for me was a uniform diaper so your baby can follow the school’s dress code.

The program uses a form of advertising that draws the impressionable audience in by shocking them with something so ridiculous that they’ll have to see what it’s really like. I did watch the first episode because you can’t judge it by its cover and it’s definitely the light feel good reality show it portrays. They show this 16 year old child going through the trials and tribulations of bringing a child in this world. But after 30 minutes everything is okay and she lives happily ever after feeling she’s learned a lot from giving birth at 16 years of age. MTV has also produced a spin-off reality show called ‘Teen Mom’ which follows these teens through raising their child. I find it’s turning these girls into reality TV celebrities and ultimately glorifying an unfortunate situation.

The message of this television show brand is everything that’s wrong with our society yet people will just laugh and move on with their lives. I found it featured on a respectable design website and the feedback was 95% positive about how it was impressive, great, awesome and wonderful. Shouldn’t designers more than anyone be able to look past the stylized book cover and see what they’re trying to communicate to their audience. A search through Google for a least a little criticism from blogs or media came up empty. Is everyone is sleeping? We all seem too brainwashed by the latest trends, styles and American Idol to notice the blatantly horrible values we’re instilling.

MTV has been the social compass of this generation for some time and its content has become more absurd as the years go on. I envision a bunch of MTV executives sitting in a room coming up with the most raunchy ideas. There must be a vault somewhere with these ideas all colour-coded from mild to absurd and I’m afraid to imagine what colour we are at now. Speaking with ratings alone doesn’t work because people seem to be mentally asleep at the remote of their lives. The corporation gravitates to what sells without any social conscience. When your target market is impressionable youth it only seems obvious that restraint must be observed.

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