The Merchants of Cool

In the Frontline production in 2001, “The Merchants of Cool” the program describes how media takes a turn and begins appealing to teens. Teens have become huge consumers today, and whether they buy the products or not they also have a huge influence on what is purchased. Many households today have 2 fulltime working parents and as a result teens are getting what Frontline calls “guilt money.” Parents are unable to spend a lot of time with their children so they give them money to make up for the lost time. Marketers have reacted to this and have begun a new form of advertising that appeals to teens. They have began creating focus groups that look at the “cool” kids so that they are then able to appeal to these “cool” kids. Media has a huge influence on what we consume, and with this new form of research many teens are directly seeing what they like become part of the advertisements for things that they buy. I have always made the argument that the larger clothing brands determine what the “style” is going to be for that year. As a teen in today’s world it becomes very important to try and fit in, and when your best friend has something that he or she thinks is “cool” you just have to have it too.
I don’t find this to be an attack on Americans youth I see it as a marketing strategy, however we need to start to educate teens more so that they are not so influenced from just marketing. We need to ask ourselves the questions: Why is it so important to fit in? What determines what is cool? What are our own likes and dislikes. We also need to start to complete studies to find out why teens feel like they have to buy a certain product to fit in. It is a good feeling to fit in well with a community, but the factors that are determining why teens fit in are un ethical. Teens have to work very hard every day to try to gain acceptance from their peers. We need to take a look at what is making teens feel accepted, and why those things are making them feel acceptance and not other personality attributes that really determine what kind of person you are. That is what is important, and that is what should be the idea of “cool.”