The Merchants of Cool: Video Response. Wafa Nurdin

The Merchants of Cool

"They don't call it 'human' research or 'people' research, they call it 'market' research."

Did the marketers in "The Merchants of Cool" get it right? Do they really know you? If MTV was really based on understanding you as a person, what would it look like?

Since the beginning of television, advertising has been a lucrative business. In the last 40 years however, teens have been the most sought out group to sell to. According to Erikson, we are in the identity vs. role-confusion stage of life, therefore, we will most likely buy whatever companies dub "cool" and "in style". Yet, companies seem to market to one group of teens, and personally because of that I do not buy what they tell me to, but what I like and feel would express my sense of self accurately. I do have to admit that sometimes there comes a product that I like and that I would actually buy, but that is rare.

Viacom's Headquarters. Y'know Viacom, the people t...

English: Carson Daly at Fort Irwin, California, on...

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However, I feel that the merchants of cool tell us how we should act and what to wear, and we as teens really do not have a say because we are only exposed to one type of culture, and we just tell them what they want to hear, because they programmed us to think that way.

Personally, I know that when a company tries to relate to my culture group I find it extremely offensive or stereotypical. Nothing really satisfies me because I know that as long as I live in a country where I am a minority, I will not belong and I just have to live with it. Companies such as Viacom who own the many companies that influence teens, do have a hoard of opinions around them that they have to satisfy,