American Consumption

Merchants of Cool

Marketers have began targeting a specific group. 12-15 and 21-24 is the two most marketed group of teens in the history of the world. On a daily basis, teens are fed 3,000 discreet ads, and they will witness about 10 million by age 18. Huge money hungry corporations like Viacom that control stations like MTV, also have control over the thought process and information fed to teens. Merchants have taken their marketing strategies and messages too far. Solely interested in the monetary reward, they have drastically dragged standards down to sell their products (Merchants of cool).
Teens may feel like they have a say in what they see and what they like; but that isn’t necessarily the case. Stations like MTV that are owned by one of the 5 main corporations called Viacom is very selective. MTV’s show called Total Request Live was designed to broadcast music videos. How the videos make it on the show isn’t only buy request of the audience, some videos are put up to there to promote certain artists they are in business with. Ann Powers, a New York Critic says “ MTV’s field of candidates is very small, their organizations are behind them saying who will and will not be promoted.” Just anybody can’t make it onto TRL. They choose who they want on the show to broadcast to the teens across America. According to Jimmy Iovine, the co-chairman of Interscope Records, “Movement in pop culture is inevitable it is going to happen with or without you.” This is the mainframe that marketers have when marketing their products and creating television shows. Television marketers believe sex is apart of teens lives so it should be apart of their media as well (Merchants of Cool).
Spring Break was a show devised by MTV. Spring Break follows teens around in this over the top series all consumed with sex and sexuality. They hold competitions like wet t-shirt competitions and dance competitions when teens wear nothing but whipped cream on their bodies. Teens have always... [continues]

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