Merchants of Cool

I think the video we watched in class was very interesting. I liked it because it was focused on people just a few years younger than many of us in college. It's easy to see why marketers focus so much this age range. It is the biggest out there, and their interests are always changing so rapidly. In many cases however, I do think the marketing tactics have gone too far.

When the interviewer and the camera crew went to the talent auditions and met with the thirteen year old girl, I was shocked. She was not like any thirteen year old girl I have ever met. She looked and acted years older than she actually was. She was trying to be sexual in her dance moves, and appear to be much older. She was doing this because she thinks it is whats "cool". She along with many other girls her age see people like Brittney Spears flaunting their bodies on screen, and think they should too. Marketing focuses too heavily on body image and looking perfect. Viewers are very impressionable, and from the video you can see their techniques are working.

Another thing that I thought was a bit intrusive, was when the camera crew went inside the house of a teenage boy, and started asking him questions about his personal life, and going through his clothes. I think that when someone in put on that spot like that, alone, in front of a camera they are going have a hard time being completely honest about their likes and dislikes. I'm sure he felt pressure so say what he though was "cool" by the media standards and by his peers because he knew that this was going to be broadcast.

However, one technique that I thought was good, was when the interviewer asked a group of boys questions about what celebrities and products they thought were "in". Since this was in a group setting I don't think they felt as much pressure. I think the study would have been more beneficial if it had been with a larger sample size, so that a variety of people could have given their input.

Marketers do whatever they need to get their jobs done, whether moral or not. In many cases they have gone too far, and these have negative effects on teens.