The Hot Pursuit of Cool Teen Behavior - Essay Example

The Hot Pursuit of ‘Cool’ Teen Behavior 7th April 2008 THE ‘COOL’ TEENAGE CULTURE The teenagers of today have attracted the prime attention of marketing who are enthusiastic to spend huge amounts of money in order to develop strategies and research the types of potential products which the teenagers would probably desire to obtain. “Cool hunting”, is thus the name given to this study and research for the trends and products that the youth would be attracted to. This symbiotic relationship between the marketing or advertisement companies and the youth culture is elucidated by Rushkoff in his documentary explaining the “giant feedback loop”. Rushkoff describes in vivid detail this loop, as the media studies the kids in order to acquire popular images and then sells them the images of themselves. The youth and teens are instantly drawn to these images thereby desiring them. Following this replication, the media observes the interaction among the adolescents and then create new images to fit with the latest trend, and so on. The important question here is the authenticity of the images of the prevalent teen culture ardently pursued by the youth, which is shaped by the advertisement conglomerates, whose sole purpose is the sale and profits of their businesses, regardless of the protection and protection of the true teen American culture and identity. The ‘cool’ youth culture is actually known to have been initiated in the 1980s when parents began to spend more and more on the needs and desires of their children, as a result of the onset of the nuclear family systems coupled with the double income from both working parents. This also happens to be the period when conglomerates began their cold wars with each other in order to hook the teens into buying their brands and maintain loyalty towards their brands. Marketing and selling acquired a major role in the process, where marketing companies began to hire spies, to inculcate the ‘cool’ teen behavior into their advertisements, in order to lure the youth into buying their products. The impressionable adolescents were obviously drawn towards these images of themselves like a pierced nose or eyebrow, or cuffed leg or sleeve. The cycle of pursuit of ‘cool hunting’ was a vicious and never-ending one because the moment a ‘cool’ behavior was identified and adopted it ceased to be “cool”! The intelligent kids obviously became aware of this cycle and the 1990s saw an absolutely new defensive to this mechanism, a rebellious defensive by the youth culture. The smart teens refused to accept or adopt anything that was publicized as being cool. They adopted a reverse approach which was an absolute reversal to the notion of ‘cool’. Ironically, the youth, instead of buying products advertised by the marketing companies, reversely bought, wore and followed anything that was ugly, horrendous looking and was opposed to the notion of ‘cool’. The youth of the 90s absolutely detached themselves with the media and its advertisement. They refused to acknowledge the efforts of the media and advertisement companies and adopted a reverse trend and approach to all they marketed. “Whatever” and “never-mind” became the ‘cool’ phrases of the youth and they used these phrases to defy the pursuit of ‘cool’. Instead of buying the regularly marketed stuff, they adopted everything that was “grunge”, be it music, style or clothes. Even this trend was instantly recognized and exploited by major companies who offered contracts to grunge bands like Nirvana and Pearl. This set the pace of the new marketing strategies and trends where children were celebrated for their refusal to accept marketing efforts to advertise brands. A new wave of media advertisements by companies like Sprite and Levis evolved, in which the youth was appraised for its disapproval of advertisement and marketing strategies. Sprite became an instant hit with its advertisement, “Image is Nothing, Thirst is Everything”. Eventually of course, teens comprehended this marketing strategy as well. But the marketing companies refuse to give up! They hired professional psychologists to study the behavior of the youth in order to foresee and predict the ideal way of advertising a product to lure the teens into buying it. The researchers and psychologists are spread everywhere, discreet and unidentifiable. The image of a potential ‘cool’ image is captured and advert8ised. This image is then ardently adopted and followed by the youth and is imbibed in its culture, the sad part is that the moment the image becomes public and is adopted, it ceases to be cool. This effectually explains the “giant feedback loop’ which Rushkoff condemns in his documentary. The role of media companies such as MTV is immense in the spread of ‘cool’ trends, who are the “scouts” of the dirty game. Morals and ethics have no place or value to these types of companies, the sole motives of which are to draw in the youth to become loyal fans. These companies, narrates Rushkoff, forget that the youth are tender children at the brink of adulthood, and as such are responsible in carrying the progress and development of a nation forward. The sole purpose of advertisement and marketing companies is to please them, by adopting whichever way possible, ethical or unethical, moral or immoral. They care a damn for the approach, the bottom-line being, profits, profits and only profits. They forget that as responsible adults and citizens, the propagation of negative images to spread cool culture and trends among the youth is proving to be disastrous to the nation as a whole. The youth, who are the future of tomorrow, are implicitly being drawn into these images, and inculcate them into their lives. By replicating these images of ‘cool’ trends, the teens are losing not only their identity but also their creativity. They simply and blindly replicate images and trends that are advertised by the media, without giving it a thought as to how authentic these may be. They are drawn in to the vicious cycle of marketing which is getting more and more evil by the day. Modern day parents do not have the time to spend with or monitor their kids. Most children in the modern day world are either being looked after or supervised by domestic help or are left alone at their homes, putting them at a complete loss and insecurity in the harsh world of today. Parents develop a guilt conscience and try to make it up by providing the children with loads of unaccounted finances to buy something for themselves and make them happy. The result is that theses young insecure impressionable minds have become the target of the multi-billion dollar marketing industries that have utter disrespect and disregard for ethics and values and will go to extreme means to deliver the cash profits to their respective companies, in order to hook these teenagers to their products and services. What is more dangerous is that today teenagers not only have a mind of their own, they also have all the money in their pockets to pursue their material happiness and satisfaction. And where does this money come from? Obviously, from their guilt ridden parents! Teenagers today, have independent thinking minds, distinctive identities and firm personal beliefs. The notion of being ‘cool’ is their utmost priority and they desire to achieve this ‘cool’ image at any cost! According to PBSs 2001 ‘Frontline documentary’, the ‘Merchants of Cool,’ by Douglas Rushkoff, these teenagers are “corporate Americas $150 billion dream.” The irony lies in the fact that even though these teenagers display maturity and firmness in their attitudes and beliefs, they remain the most impressionable minds. So, what actually is the notion of ‘cool’? The youth of today, aspire to be the most up-to-date customers and as such are the principal spotlight of the huge retail and the promotion business. There is tremendous cut-throat competition in business and the youth and adolescents participate in a major way in spending due to which the focus on teen marketing is more enhanced now than ever before and is getting scarier with the marketing industry’s “never-ending quest to capture the $100 billion teen market”, where “even those with the best intentions get caught in the downward spiral of sex and violence...” (Barbara D. P., ‘The Wall Street Journal’) Teen psychology has historically never been easy to comprehend by most people specifically by the marketers. But his does not dampen the motivation of the “merchants of cool who are “creators and sellers” from striving towards their goals, even if it is in the most horrifically unethical manner. In contrast, novel techniques are developed understand the notion of what the teens consider being “cool”, on the basis of which they design the new product or look, which is then released into the teen media market. The design could be just about anything under the roof, a look, an attitude, a behavior, apparel, make-up, songs, dance, a movement, a cold-drink,….. just about anything. The basic idea is to create something novel, something that is a “trendsetter”, so that there are ardent followers. Rushkoff, narrator of the ‘Merchants of Cool’, reveals the names of “five enormous companies” who share the prime responsibility of “selling” the notion of ‘cool’ to the adolescents of today. He mentions Rupert Murdochs Newscorp, Disney, Viacom, Universal Vivendi, and AOL/Time Warner as the prime corporations responsible for spreading youth culture. The documentary exposes the way these companies literally “spy” upon these children so that they can gauge and perceive what it is the next likely thing that the youth will ardently follow and the techniques to lure them into buying these products. The role of the television networks and entertainment companies is also highlighted in the documentary, where Rushkoff compare the youth and teens to ‘Africa’ who are being colonized by these conglomerates with the ‘weapons’ of music films, apparel, books, CDs internet, advertisements, just about anything that the youth can access, which is everything in the modern world! The prime and the sole purpose of these companies is to make money by luring the youth into buying their products even if it by the use of immoral means. The “midriff”, is an example of such a trendsetting character inclined towards female teen populace, and additionally has a male equivalent, the “mook”, who is essentially portrayed as an immature, ill-mannered teenager who is absolutely unsophisticated, hates women and is extremely irate. The advertisement of these types of images on public media will obviously bear long-lasting impressions on the tender minds of the youth. These horrendous images are broadcast and displayed on public media with such openness that the youth seem to have no qualms about absorbing them in their daily lives. This does bring us to question the role and responsibility of the media in shaping the minds of the youth and teens of today, into becoming responsible and decent adults of tomorrow. Should monetary gain be the prime focus of advertising companies/ isn’t it their responsibility to place the youth on a firm path to achieve academic success rather than displaying horrible images which they know will ultimately spoil the future of the youth? The media generally evades the question by stating that they only replicate what is actually occurring in the lives of the American youth. But that is not truly the case. For, the media captures one image of a single person and broadcasts it across millions of teenagers who will instantly be impacted by it. Is the media the acting responsibly in capturing the gory image/ can it not capture an image in which the teens are displayed as responsible and mature beings who are working hard to secure their own future as well as their country’s? “The Merchant of Cool’ explains the vicious cycle of the process of observation of teen behavior, remodeling by the media and its consequent portrayal and display thereby generating powerful statements, for example, the “midriff” as “your sexuality is your best asset” to the female younger generation. In the Britney Spears video, where she undresses herself, basically catering to the younger boys, but sending the wrong message that a woman can use her body and sexuality as a means to obtain whatever she desires in life with great ease, and that there is nothing wrong or no harm in doing so. Obviously, the young impressionable minds of the teenagers are bound to be impacted by this powerful demonstration from their idol, like the young and naïve thirteen year old Barbara who sets out to succeed in the world with a sense of achievement arming herself with the tool of sexuality. This and several other examples of the confusion and the negative impact on the lives of the teens due to the “cool hunting” initiatives of the media are provided by Rushkoff in elucidating the “Giant Feedback Loop”. Once a trendy “cool” concept, a fashion, an idea or a notion is identified it is then marketed in the mainstream through the media, where hordes of teenagers blindly follow it in the pursuit of being trendy and fashionable. The “sad” part is that as soon as this replication occurs, the idea stops being cool instantly, having permeated into the lives of so many teens. Almost immediately, the marketing industry hunts down another idea or conception to hook the teens. But where will they get these ideas from every time? This is the crucial part. Since teen psychology has never been an easy subject to elucidate, the marketers now hire experts in the field of psychology to be able to identify and pin down these novel behaviors. Of course the task is a daunting one, since at an average there will be only twenty percent trendsetters in a society which any ways will be difficult to find. The media then capture these images of the teens on the video which are then sold to the entire teen community, who are attracted to these images of themselves and thereby desire them. Thus this process of “cool” is never ending and refuses to cease. The teen kids instantaneously and ardently inculcate these images in their lives and begin to replicate them. In the vicious circle, the media experts then re-observe and study these new images and conceptions closely to spot and create another new and novel image which will be a trend setter among the teens. The media constantly debates, that in doing so it is merely “mirroring” and is reflective of the prevalent teen culture, but on the contrary the media is creating a never ending cycle of portrayal and acceptance of the ‘symbiotic relation’ between itself and the teens. Teens contribute undoubtedly to a vast population of the world and observe copy and follow the contemporary fashion. The marketing experts have obviously perceived this teen attitude and embarked themselves in the lives of the teens by way of the ‘feedback loop’. The feedback loop is an interconnected incessant process between the teens and the media involving the sharing of surveillance, ideas and apprehension of the “cool” concept, which marketers put to effective use, thereby influencing the teens to accept certain values. The Night parties are a popular form of culture practiced by the American teens, where they get the chance of displaying their cool image and gaining popularity by doing so. Ironically, it is these parties and such events that provide the media with the material they require in order to keep themselves in business. The parties and get-togethers have thus become a popular hub for the two inter-dependent entities, one providing the other. Thus we see the negative influence of the media in fashioning these impressionable minds that are actually the future of a nation. As such the media should adopt a more responsible role, elevated from the economics of the game in order to positively shape the minds of the youth who undoubtedly are the future of any country. The cycle never ceases as more and more kids are trapped in the psychological game of being accepted as ‘cool’, a concept which has penetrated the deepest sections of the teen society and even confuses kids into ‘Branding’ themselves by means of the brand they use in their daily lives. The teens, heavily impacted by these ideas, believe that activities such as tattoos, displaying their sexuality, behaving vulgarly and piercing their tongues and eyebrows are indeed the ‘in thing’. In doing so, they provide the media with their requirements of the “cool” pursuit of teen behavior and in turn are reciprocated by the same, “Giant Feedback Loop” concept, which ironically, right away loses its value the moment the “cool” attitude is adopted. This is nothing but the manipulation of the young and fresh minds of the teens and it is our sole responsibility as parents and responsible citizens to educate them of these media and marketing tactics so that they do not get negatively influenced by the wrong and sometimes gory messages reflected to them by the media. We as responsible citizens must stand up and take responsibility in censuring the derogatory images so publicly and openly publicized and displayed by the media in collaboration with the marketing companies. The entire responsibility of safeguarding the future of American children and youth is our hands, which ironically are the future of America. We must understand this loop just like we have understood the “giant feedback loop”. As responsible parents, citizens and adults of the nation, the media must be made aware of it power and potential over the young minds of the youth. It is this great power that must be used and exhibited with great caution and precision. For as the saying goes, “With great power, comes great responsibility”, and the media, advertisement and the marketing companies must come forward and take the initiative of fulfilling this responsibility that they have, in placing America’s youth and its culture on a moral and right path to achieve success in life. References Philips D.B., ‘The Wall Street Journal’, Retrieved from website: < http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/cool/etc/press.html> Frontline Website, ‘The Merchants Of Cool’. Read More