The Merchant of Cool PBS DVD - SFR



The Merchant of Cool PBS DVD

Introduction:

1. Why is there a “relentless focus” on teen culture and the idea of “cool”?

2. What is the point of the “focus group”?

3. Look at the statistics below. Match them to the correct information:

|Statistics |Information |

|32 million |Amount that the teenagers spend on themselves |

|100 billion dollars |Amount they encourage their parents to spend on them |

|50 billion dollars |Number of teenagers in USA |

What is the importance of these statistics?

4. Explain the meaning of “guilt money”? Is it

a) the money teenagers spend on their friends

b) the money parents spend on their children as compensation for the lack of time they spend with them

c) the money which is spent by advertisers on the teenage market

5. Look at these statistics below. Match them:

|Statistics |Information |

|3,000 ads |Average time spent on PC per day by teenagers |

|10 million |% of teenagers who have a TV in their room |

|75% |Number of adverts they will have seen by the age of 18 |

|1/3 |The number of ads they see in a day |

|2 hours |The number of teenagers who have a PC |

Do you think that these statistics suggest any problems or do they raise any concerns?

The DVD suggests that teenagers are therefore faced with a “blizzard of brands” and that marketing agencies set out to try and understand teens and their language. Their aim is to search for “cool kids”.

6. This “cool hunting” involves looking for “cool” kids but what does being cool kid mean?

7. What techniques so they use to find such kids?

8. The DVD claims that these cool hunters look for new trends or underground cultures and then once they have found it they end up killing that culture? Can you explain this idea in your own words?

9. Sprite: the DVD explains how the soft drink Sprite was an “also ran brand” in the early 1990s and that the company decided it needed to revamp its image. What TWO techniques did they use?

a.

b.

10. Cornerstone use a variety of techniques to allow teenagers to find out about their products.

- They get teenagers to log into chat rooms and smuggle messages about their products into teenagers’ lives.

What do you think about this method? Do you think this is ethical?

- They also organise freshmen parties and give out free gifts to students.

What do you think about this method?

If you were offered money to log on to chat rooms, would you?

11. Sprite has now become part of the hip hop culture. What is your opinion on such “relationships”? Which of these statements below best reflect your feelings?

- It doesn’t bother me if soft drink companies sponsor music.

- It’s a natural part of the free market- sponsorship allows bands to become known and to develop

- Such a relationship has a negative effect on the music. The bands can be accused of “selling out” for a profit.

12. Name the 5 big corporations who “control” youth culture:

13. We learn that in the late 90s MTV had lost its way and its audience figures were falling. It was no longer seen as cool. MTV decided to react. They now try to “understand” young people by going to their homes and asking them questions. In the DVD we see the example of a boy called John. They call it an ethnography study. What are they trying to learn?

14. What is your reaction to this?

15. The portrait which emerges is that of a MOOK. What is a mook and what does he supposedly enjoy watching?

16. Do you think the mook exists? Or is the mook invented by MTV as the documentary suggests?

17. The programme claims that MTV does not listen to young people in order to make them happier – it just wants to learn how to best sell them things. How far do you agree with this statement?

18. One of the things which MTV learnt was that professional wrestling was very popular amongst teenage boys.

|Statistics |Information |

|15 hours a week |Watch professional wrestling on TV |

|15 million people |Age group which likes wrestling the most |

|18-24 |Amount of coverage of wrestling per week over 5 networks |

The narrator says that he is not worried about the violence of wrestling but about its ubiquity (being everywhere at the same time). Can you explain his argument?

19. Describe the creation of the “midriff” girl?

20. Why do girls take part in the IMTA (International Model Talent Agency) show? What do you think about thirteen year old girls taking part in such an event?

21. WB develops such shows as Dawson’s Creek and films like I Still Know What You Did Last Summer and Cruel Intentions.

OPINION ONE: They claim that they are giving teenagers what they want to see. They also claim that dealing with sexually explicit subjects helps to make teenagers more aware of the problems.

OPINION TWO: The programme makers claim that this leads to a downward spiral in the production of films and programmes for teenagers.

Who do you think is right?

Do you think that shows such as Dawson’s Creek or teen films really reflect adolescent life? Or are they distortions?

22. The media is a mirror. They are just reflecting what they see? OR are they creating the culture? By showing such behaviour is MTV encouraging other teenagers to copy it? (Remember the debate in France about Jackass.)

23. How do some teenagers try to spurn such mainstream culture? See the example of rap metal. What eventually happens to such bands (according to the Tv documentary?)

24. Conclusion

What struck you most about this film? Describe how you felt whilst watching this film?

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