Teens are often seen as radicals, as forward thinkers, and as
the embodiment of American values such as freedom and independence. Therefore, it was interesting to see their
critical way of thinking juxtaposed with their mindless desire to be
“cool”. Throughout the video, it was
apparent that the marketers’ tactics when trying to find out what’s trending
were very obvious. For example, they
made visits to random houses to ask teens what was cool and had researchers
approach teens in the streets to take photos of what they’re sporting. Compared to today, marketing has become more
tech-based and subtle. Products are
advertised when we watch our favorite beauty blogger, and ads flicker by when
we scroll through our Facebook feeds.
Given that the average teenager’s attention span is relatively short—this
is partly fueled by the format of today’s social media: everything is quick and
to the point in order to grab your attention before it leaves—companies are
pressured, perhaps more than ever, to identify what’s relevant and “cool” to
teens in order for their businesses to survive.
Something that seems to have remained the same is the struggle companies
have to not be so obvious about the fact that they are trying to sell a
product. I think this corresponds to
today’s concept of “cool” because while teens do try to follow what’s trending,
no one outright says that they do it to be cool.
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I think Omar did wonderfully with his presentation! I liked the fact that he incorporated and
defined past concepts such as hegemony and counterculture and related it back
to “cool” culture. He was super engaging
and I really liked his lecture!
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