Unboxing videos: the consumer craze sweeping the internet

The YouTube video begins with a pleasant story about going on holiday to Madrid.

The narrator does not whet listeners' appetite with her memories of plates heaped with paella or paint a verbal picture of the city's geography. Instead, the only thing filling the screen is an oversize white Prada shopping bag with its matching rope handles tied together with a silky white ribbon printed with the luxury brand's moniker.

All of these details are important because this is a video that is all about the details. Tedious. Precious. Beloved. The video, practically pornographic in its extreme close-up voyeurism, is produced by a Londoner named Eleasha Ajadi. It is a celebration of fashion, a paean to consumerism, a dream come true. Here, in the cultural swamp of YouTube, the experience of buying a US$2,600 handbag is lovingly celebrated in six minutes.

This is an unboxing video. And it is precisely what it sounds like. A much-anticipated purchase is removed from its packaging. It is inspected, admired and discussed in a lengthy monologue. Born within the ranks of geeked out techies ripping open the latest Apple devices, unboxing videos have become an enthusiasm among the devoted consumers of Chanel, Hermes and Louis Vuitton.

They have become a mainstay of YouTube. And during the holiday season, their popularity rises and the thrill of the reveal ripples through the heart of millions of fashionistas.

The genre is "a monster", says Dave Rosner, senior vice-president of marketing for ZEFR, a technology firm that analyses YouTube content. This year, 316,000 unboxing videos on YouTube racked up 2.6 billion views. In comparison, the ALS ice bucket challenge sparked 245,000 videos and 1.4 billion views.