“The Merchants of Cool”

What are your opinions on the tactics and techniques of the marketing media who are targeting teenagers? Have they gone too far?

When I think about marketing media and the tactics and techniques used to form how teens feel about products I think two things, wow that is annoying but at the same time wow that is smart. It is amazing to think about how many people work every day not just to try to understand the American teenager but also try to understand what they will want to buy and become obsessed with. When I think about the American teenager I think about how so many look to the media and the commercial world to find out what is “cool” just like how we saw in “The Merchants of Cool”.

I do not like to see how much “cool hunters” do to try to find out what should be sold to teens. The fact that they go into kids homes or ask to take their pictures to go on a website just gives me this weird feeling. And yet it seems to work because the best way to get inside a teen’s head it to let them be who they want to be, or think they want to be anyway, and sell it right back to them in a mass form. I also don’t like how these cool hunters become all about selling not seeming to care if what they are selling to teens is healthy for them. Looking back again on what we saw in the video today a lot of what is sold to guys are products all about being crazy and fun when for girls is all comes down to your body type and sex. In a way the media is willing to poison young minds because they do not care about how it affects the teen, they only care if they buy it. We always hear how things are not all about the money - but what is media marketing telling us other than that it IS all about the money. I think about how many things are sold toward teens on the internet now. Websites label sections of items that are "What's Hot" or they show "hot" models wearing the clothes. Companies such as Abercrombie & Fitch and American Eagle are all about selling their clothing through these methods.

I think as much as I hate all this and wish the media did not market products to teens like they were animals to be fed, they do need to do what they do because selling to teens is their job. This is just one of the only good reasons why I understand why marketers are selling the media the way they do. And as much as I hate to admit it, the marketers are winning the battle most of the time, even if we don't like how much they influence what we think about a product and make us want to buy it, we have to admit marketers are good at selling with the media’s help.