I believe this came about as the latest wave of advertising.
In the history of advertising it began as the -ests (whitest, brightest, tastiest). Eventually that stopped working and advertisers switched to testimonial (I’m Fred Flinstone and I love a Marlboro’ etc). Soon, that stopped working when through tv people began to see their tv idols/stars as people with flaws and who were (thanks to the giant hollywood machine) no longer living in a way that people could identify with.
Enter the next advertising change – this time the most successful ads began to show a lifestyle to sell a product ( think Mountain Dew ads from the early 90’s with skateboarders etc, also SUV ads from a few years ago). This, as with any ad strategy, began to not work after consumers grew wise to the fact that a new car didn’t change their lives to mirror those on tv.
Bringing us to today’s advertising. There are two kinds that have really hit their stride right now. One is the anti-ad; an ad where the viewer is ‘let in’ on a secret or a widely known ‘in-joke’ such as any ad using an internet fad or icon. This also ties into the other type of ad being shown nowadays- the Cult.
New advertising strategies are selling products on the basis that owning one includes you in a select group; an in-the-know group. Think ‘I’m a mac’ ads or the new ‘I ride. I am. Jeep’ ads.
Now we have a generation of people who think that what you buy equals what you stand for, your intelligence and your proven ability to be included in the ‘group’. This causes conflict and makes people become fanboys/fangirls to inanimate objects that hold no real power on the world. We have people truly believing that their chosen corporate ‘cult leader’ actually has an identity like a person, or movement. This is, of course, a lie.
ETA For anyone interested here is a good episode of Frontline that deals with advertising. It’s quite a good episode and starting point to learn more