The Merchants of "Cool"

Wow that really opened my eyes! I knew that we as teenagers were already exposed to ads all around us but I never understood the business side of it. We as teenagers make up almost 150 billion dollars in the US economy. That's just one of the many things I learned from this episode of FRONTLINE. The first thing that really shocked me is how company's look as teens not as people, but as a market. How they go to kids houses and try to understand whats hot in the mind of teens today but more importantly, how they can market whatever that thing is. That thing is what they call "cool". Company's send marketers to concerts and other events where mass amounts of teens gather to see what's new and exciting in terms of fashion, slang, and pop culture. However the paradox with this is that once something that was once new and innovative makes it's way to the mainstream, it's no longer considered cool.
Another point that was brought up was the MTV "machine". MTV's market is directed completely towards teens and young adults. However the secret behind MTV's success isn't that it knows its market. In fact, MTV works due to the fact that it has accepted the fact that "cool" is in the hands of teens, not MTV. What MTV and other big marketing company's have done is studied which products work and which don't, then placing their name behind them and producing them on shows like TRL and Sucker Free Countdown. It may seem like a maze of information but if you follow the rise and fall of certain bands, it becomes more clear. Bands like Limp Bizkit, who made it big soon after MTV started playing their music videos on TRL. By pushing new albums on shows like TRL, the sales skyrocketed and toped charts. The true genius behind all this was that MTV had no idea what "rage rock" was or what it stood for. However with a following of almost 50 million fans in that genre alone, the numbers talk for themselves.
I could go on about how there is hidden marketing in almost everything teens are exposed to, as well how girls are being consumed my appearance. In my honest opinion, I feel that we will never be free from MTV's grip on us, not because it tells us what to wear or how to act, but because we as teens need MTV and other companys just as much as they need us. They are not cool and probably never will be. They need us to them what really is cool and exciting. Maybe if teens wise up to this hidden world of marketing, they can take back some of the power and reshape pop culture. Just a though....

Peace