Merchants of Cool DQ'S

1.Give two reasons why corporate America has targeted teenagers.
They are willing to spend the money so advertisers will make cool items for them.
2.Why does Robert McChesney call teenagers “Africa”?
The teens will reign and take over.
3.What does Bob Bibb emphasize about teens and their parents?
Teens will spend the most money on items to be cool and parents will help gain likeness from their children so they will use "guilt money"?
4.How does Sharon Lee define “guilt money”?
It is when parents feel guilty in someway for something done to their kids, so parents will give their children money to make them happy.
5.To what extent is a typical American teenager exposed to advertisements? Give examples.
Most teens have tv's and computers which give advertisers more of a better chance to advertise for them.
6.What does “cool hunting” mean? Why is it important for corporate America?
When kids search for popular things to buy, but it's important for corporate America because they can extend off of what teens like at that time.
7.How do cool hunters work? What techniques do they use?
They search for things that look out of the ordinary or what is cool at the time and then they kill the style to make new and better things.
8.According to Douglas Rushkoff, “the paradox of “cool hunting” is that it kills what it finds.” Why?
They see what's popular out there, then they will come out with bigger and better things that are even more popular.
9.Marketers know that kids do not like them. What strategy do they use to approach kids?
They will use techniques like putting celebrities on video with their product so teens will buy it because their favorite people use it.
10.What is the reason for Sprite’s success with teenagers?
They use popular people to drink Sprite in a commercial so other kids want to be like the celebrity and drink it.
11.What does “under-the-radar” marketing mean?
To have people chat like their a fan of a product to see opinions of others.
12.Discuss the following statements: “Youth culture is not something that is just being sold to us. It is something that comes from us. It is an act of expression, not just an act of consumption.”
This was to explain what is in us.
13.Who are defined as the true merchants of cool?
Aol, Time Warner, as well as MTV
14.According to Robert McChesney, what weapons do the merchants of cool use?
They use music videos and popular people to sell merchandise.
15.What does Robert McChesney draw our attention to about MTV?
They use music and videos that people like to impress people so people want to watch it.
16.What conclusion did MTV draw when their ratings slipped?
They weren't as creative and had to be more creative to gain ratings again.
17.What is special about MTV’s TRL show?
They had live shows and the audience was able to vote for what they want to hear.
18.MTV market researchers are involved in an “ethnography study”. What is it? What is the use of it?
MTV marketers visit a fan to see what he likes to get some insight on what they should do with the business in the future.
19.What does MTV research indicate about teenagers as a result of their ethnographic study?
What there hobbies and daily lives are like to get an idea of what marketers should do to impress teens at the time.
20.Comment on the following quote by Douglas Rushkoff : “They [MTV market researchers] don’t call it “human” research or “people” research, they call it “market” research.”
It's all market, yes, they learn about people, but new stuff emerges and boost into new things every day.
21.According to Mark Crispin Miller, why is the MTV machine not interested in listening to the young?
So it can pitch what Viacom wants.
22.Why do commercial culture providers like MTV not represent characters in depth for their audiences?
To click on recognizable things and entertainment.
23.What does “professional wrestling” mean to today’s teenagers?
It's like a shock and it's suprising to them.
24.Why is Mark Crispin Miller quite concerned about gigantic transnational corporations and their TV shows?
Companies will soon drag standards down to get good ratings.
25.What does “midriff” mean? Who is the midriff archetype? How might a midriff affect girls?
Midriff is the art of women dressing half naked and just wanting sex. This is an art and a thought put on women that they push ratings up by being half naked and being sexual on t.v.
26.What does the image of Britney Spears signify?
Britney flaunting her body half naked in a sexual way.
27.What might a mook and a midriff have in common?
These are both arts and thoughts by the people on the other side of the t.v.
28.How is “family” represented in the TV series “7th Heaven”? What formula is used in this program?
The show wanted to keep it clean and they did it by not putting all the sexual content within the show and rage.
29.How are TV series such as “Beverly Hills 90210” and “Dawson’s Creek” kept “cool”?
They raised sexual guidelines and pushed the limits on sexual content within the shows.
30.How do the makers of teen TV defend their programs?
They reflect the reality of teens to make it feel like what their doing is right.
31.Does the media really reflect the world of teens? How realistic is teen TV?
In a way they do because they put it to where teens are having sex and out partying.
32.What is a “feedback loop”?
They see images of kids and what's happening to see how the movie or video effected teens.
33.What could be the reason for the popularity of rage rock in the States? What do rage rock fans protest against?
Most are crazy and out of control and that is what kids like so they should have it.
34.How did a group like Limp Bizkitt become superstars? As a rage rock band, how authentic would you accept them?
They look out for raw material to be cool and then authentic them due to taking material's and using them.
35.Discuss the following: Who creates youth cultures: the youth themselves or corporate America?
Corporates because teens will pay to be "cool" and follow up with it.