Dramatic firings. Live marriage proposals. Wife swapping. These are the raw, semi-unpredictable events that make up the new "reality entertainment" complex in American life. Today's consumers--and the youth in particular--just can't get enough of playing the voyeur when it comes to entertainment. Who needs rehearsed presentation and slick packaging when you can watch people act out real-life situations, raw and uncut?

Young consumers of the next generation have a thirst for mediated reality. Many see contrived marketing messages and ignore them because they aren't, well…real enough. Given the fact that exciting, real-life soap operas are played out every day in magazines and on the news, there is hardly any need for fictional situations. The youth of today like life "straight, no chaser."

It seems that the "reality" craze is everywhere. It is promoted on TV shows such as Big Brother, Wife Swap, and Jackass, and found online through popular blogs and other sites. People seem to enjoy the fact that reality can go wrong at any minute, unlike pre-planned marketing messages.

The ramifications of the reality trend are enormous--especially as it relates to marketing. If the trend continues, consumers can expect to see a major shift in the way marketers present brands to audiences.