"Generation Like" and Their Desire to be "Cool"

"Generation Like" and Their Desire to be "Cool"

By watching Frontline's "The Merchants of Cool", I learned that teenagers have this desire to be “cool” making them the number one targeted consumer demographic in America. Corporations or “merchants of cool” discover new trends only to sell it back to teens. They do this by hiring “cool hunters” who try to be the first discover the new trends by taking in from the 20% of teens who are actually trend setters. Ultimately making profit off the other 80% of teens.

If teens were more aware, would this be going on? I do not think so. Perhaps big corporations invented cool, because they are the ones selling it. Perhaps their inspired by the "20 percenters". Perhaps teens have this need to be "cool" only because it is what the media tells them.

Though many might now look back at this trend and joke about how different it was, ultimately many of us purchased actually purchased a pair. This is a perfect example, because merchants took the skinny jean trend from the 20% and sold it to the 80%.  

Through watching "Generation Like", I learned that social media users unknowingly advertise for corporations via their social media pages. Corporations often data mine through social media sites to find those users best fit to promote their product. For example, to promote the film Hunger Games the studio had a re-tweeting competition. The theory is that if teens relate themselves with some one that many others idolize and adore, then they too will get this sense of “being cool”; a perfect tactic for corporations.  

Both "Generation Like" and "Merchants of Cool" explain how important being cool is to teen culture. Social media users, especially teens, do what I like to call free promoting just to be cool. They do this by associating themselves with what many adore through media. The difference is, more recently, corporations have been reaching teens through social media. Why? because it is easy, and social media users are doing it for free. Be aware, beware of the corporations.

Even ESPN uses social media to get to more people. Retweeting helps with ESPN's mission just like retweeting helped promote the film Hunger Games.

Poisonous Milk and Consuming Babies!!

      Story of stuff by Anne Leonard is a short illustrated video about the materials economy.  This is the system by which stuff goes through beginning at the extraction of resources then to production, distribution, consumption all the way to its final destination of disposal. Leonard however helps the viewer discover and explain the missing links that has notable impacts over the whole equator. The system forgets to mention all the immoralities corporations perform over third world countries: on people and on the environment. It also forgets to mention all the toxins and carcinogens that are mixed into our products.
By watching Story of stuff I learned something that truly impacted me, it made me open my eyes and learn the personal consequences of using products, not just personally but the global consequence of what it takes to make stuff. For the first time I was aware of how our stuff come to be. I learned about the toxins, the exposures and the heartless corporations. And the worst part about knowing all this is that the smallest members of our society  pay the biggest price.  I found out that babies take in more chemicals than anyone else through mother’s breast milk. To understand first we have to dissect the process of how our products become toxic in the first place. Corporations begin their industrial production system by using “energy” to mix natural resources with toxic chemicals and carcinogens into products. When the stuff is consumed by women they begin their exposure. By the time  mothers begin nursing they  unknowingly pass high levels of chemicals into the babies.” Story of Stuff”  also explains how women around reproductive ages that work in factories are being exposed to toxins  and carcinogens that cause harmful effects to their reproductive system’s and their bodies.
           This is where the system forgets to mention how corporations lack the ability to inform or educate their workers about the dangerous working conditions and exposures. As long as the corporations continue working with and mixing in toxins into our products we will continue to be exposed. If the materials economy doesn't change our babies will continue to feed on the mother’s poisonous milk.

  
          
         Consuming kids: The Commercialization of childhood is a film about the journey of children becoming the consumers of the future. It explains the interest that corporate marketers have in children due to their potential in making a profitable industry. By watching Consuming kids I learned that unborn babies are predestined to become consumers. In the video mothers of unborn babies begin buying theme branded products such as Winnie the Pooh wipes, due to the mother’s brand loyalty they predestine their babies to be introduced to the notion of consumption once they are born. The products available for the working class are all branded such as toys, to diapers, and sippy cups and it becomes impossible to buy unbranded products. As babies begin to grow their parent’s behavior and the consumption of brands gives them notion that life is about buying, and consuming.

Before the baby is born the parent’s nostalgia misguides the parents into brand loyalty. Parents have been exposed to product for so long that they can no longer perceive their high brand loyalty. The nostalgia makes the parents associate feelings, events and people with the products.  They might remember how they played with Winnie the Pooh toys as they grew up, since they associate the Winnie the Pooh brand with memorable experience they continue using the same product continuing their brand loyalty.  The parent’s nostalgia trips can seem harmless and accidental but they truly continue to make them inevitably loyal consumers.  Before babies are born parent’s already have a mentality about giving their future babies a chance to live their experiences, and what I mean by this is they might want their kids to also use Winnie the pooh wipes because it reminds the parent of their childhood. 
Once babies are born they are surrounded by products they will learn to use and associate as well and slowly but surely become loyal consumers. 

Consuming Kids & Story Of Stuff

Consuming Kids

In the documentary Consuming Kids I learned that corporations and advertisers target young children when selling their products because they are who determine what is going to be bought in their households. The documentary gives attention to the practices corporations use to sell products to children and their parents. It also demonstrates how marketers have turned young children into one of the most powerful consumer. An example they used was a car commercial in which a little girl brought a mini van for show and tell and all her classmates were enjoying all the features that the car that supposedly has to offer to them.  One huge way marketers sold products was by airing shows just to sell toys based on them. Many TV shows and cartoon characters are also advertised on junk food products and in fast food restaurants, so children can be attracted to it and buy the products. Product placement soon began to take place in well-known movies and online games.
       The example of the car commercial was used to show how advertisers target just children. They didn't use adults enjoying the car, but used children instead.The commercial started off with a little girl showing off her Sienna Toyota minivan to her classmates. As the commercial continues on with the little girl explaining the greatness of it, her classmates get the chance to enjoy the car as well. The rest of the commercial consists of the children enjoying all the features the car has to offer, even though they aren't the ones who are actually going to drive the car. This car commercial was specifically made to influence the child's decision in the purchase of a car. Only because during the whole commercial, the only people who were enjoying the car were the kids.
       Another example that was shown, was the strategy that marketers used to target children to buy products. Marketers would specifically make cartoons and TV shows just to sell toys based off of them. These cartoon characters were branded on blankets, backpacks and so many other products so children can see and think of the product from when they go to sleep to when they go to school. This technique worked so well that when it came to food products, children were so sure that a food product (like Scooby Doo mac n cheese) tasted better than normal macaroni and cheese just because the cartoon character was shown on it. The thing was that the child hadn't even tasted the product and was already saying it tasted better than the ordinary macaroni and cheese when it's literally the same thing.
      Product placement also plays a huge role when it comes to a child determining what will be bought. Products were purposefully put in movies and video games just so kids were exposed to them.
        All these techniques that marketers use are the reason why children are growing up to the idea that buying stuff will bring happiness in their lives.

(This photo shows exactly how much children are exposed to products and how they are mainly the ones being targeted when a product is being advertised)

Story of Stuff

I learned that our society consumes more than we actually need and demand the products to be cheap as well, and because of this, we are destroying the global environment. Story of Stuff is a documentary that shows a portrayal of the life cycle of material goods. It analyzes a critical vision of our consumerist society. In order for a product to be made, a lot of resources and lands are destroyed, causing disruption on lands and slowly killing the planet. This is because we build factories in third world countries because it is much cheaper and there are no environment restriction. Not only is that killing the planet, but factories (where the product is produced) releases a bunch of toxins and waste into the environment. This causes many problems to the workers at these factories because they are exposed to all these toxic substances. Then there's the consumers, who buy more than they actually need. The media plays a big role in the consumption process. The media convinces the consumer to buy a product and make them think that they need it in order to fit into society. For example, fashion changes constantly, year after year. One year bigger sizes of heels are in and the other smaller heel sizes are in. This keeps the consumer buying more products, and also wasting and throwing out more. At this rate, the consumer ends up buying way too much and in about 6 months or so, most of the products they bought are going to be thrown out. That trash usually ends up in landfills or gets burnt. When it gets burned, the toxins that most products contain are released into the air through smoke. These toxins are more dangerous than other kinds of toxins, and worse part is that it is man-made.

Mickey Mouse Monopoly; Tough Guise

"MickeyMouse Monopoly: How to be a girl"

After watching "Mickey Mouse Monopoly", I learned that the Disney Corporation is controlling children’s imagination at a very young age. The Corporation starts controlling the minds of kids before they can even speak. Doing so, Disney constructs femininity notions and shapes kid’s images on how they should act and what they should look like. Cartoons in Disney movies also show sexualized content without parents even knowing. Disney hides all these messages in all of their movies, especially the princess movies. Disney is known as being innocent all over the world, they don’t make parents think or pay attention to all of the influences it has on other children. Disney princess movies like Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Little Mermaid give little girls negative messages about relationships, their bodies, and disobedience. 

"ToughGuise"

In the documentary "Tough Guise" I learned how media has a big impact on the role of men of many races. Someone who is not tough, strong, or independent, are not considered to be a man. This is seen in many movies and mostly focus on three major races. These three are Asian Americans, Latinos, and African Americans. Each race has a certain role in movies and each is portrayed as men being tough. This gives men ideas that if they do not live up to those expectations then they will continue to be considered as a child. This behavior causes men to become violent and destructive which cause them to be put in prison.

Mickey Mouse Monopoly and Tough Guise

     Society plays a vital role for growing children around the world because of the strong influence 

that these children grow up with throughout their lives.  Some of these influences can have a negative 

conation to it. Children and adults may not be able to notice the negative side of the messages from 

society and media. Disney princesses need a man complete their happily ever after. Men are taught 

from a young age that they need to provide and be the “man of the house” and cannot be wimps. Both 

women from Disney movies and “tough guy” attitudes are learned from family and society, which 

have an impact on the person as they grow up.

 

     In the Mickey Mouse Monopoly documentary, I learned how the universally well-known Disney 

movies, portray women in a sexualized manner by using their body. The female characters are often 

seen as having a big upper chest area, tiny waist, complimenting their batty eyes and sexual, 

persuasive appeal. For example, in the movie The Little Mermaid, a prince named Eric falls in love 

with a woman who does not have any clothes on and cannot speak. That woman is Princess Ariel, a 

mermaid, who is determined to risk everything she has in order to find prince Eric, whom she met 

once and automatically fell in love with. In the movie, Ariel betrayed her father by going to a witch to 

take her voice away so she can be a full human and used her body to get Eric to notice her without 

having to say a word.

This meme depicts how Ariel washed up on shore naked and not being able to speak and attracts 

Prince Eric.

    

    The video talks about how these influences from Disney movies affect young girls because they are 

in a stage of wondering what it is to become a woman. Dr. Diane Levin of Wheelock College 

describes in the documentary how these Disney female characters shape images on young girls, on 

how they think they should look because they are curious. Young girls do not realize this at a young 

age, but this can lead to self-esteem issues when they get older and have a set viewpoint on how a 

woman should act, along with the desired characteristics they should possess. Young girls can also 

infer that they need to find a prince charming to complete their happiness, since most Disney princess 

movies end in a happily ever after by finding their prince charming and getting married.

    This can almost objectify a woman for them to just stand there, not talk, and look pretty. Referring 

back to the meme, that is basically how Ariel gets her prince charming. Female characters outward 

appearance is what matters most in these movies. In the Disney movies, viewers can see how a 

woman can use her body to get whatever she wants such as bribing or manipulating, usually to a man. 

Men can also be influenced by this notion because then they will think all women should have to act 

seductive.

     The short video clip of Tough Guise talks about how society decides what it means to be a “tough 

guy”. The video describes the different representations of what society thinks being a tough man is 

and the negative impact it can result on young men.  What I learned from watching the video Tough 

Guise is how society makes men of color feel like they have to always be dominant and the “Man of 

the House” because of movies and characters that are put out into the media.  The video talks about 

how being a tough guy means not being a coward, but being respected and capable of anything that 

stands in their way. In the video, Jackson Kratz talks about how growing boys are pressured to 

conform and act like “one of the guys” and to not be referred to as a wimp.

      Society sends messages to men about how they cannot be taken advantage of and need to be 

tough at all times. For example, the video says that in T.V shows or movies, Latinos are portrayed as 

boxers, criminals, or gang-members. This can lead Latino men and other races, into being violent and 

setting up a fake image of themselves because what they see on the screen inspires them to be this 

“macho” tough man that people fear and talk about. Society places these tough images on colored 

men because that is how movies and television shows portray their characteristics. Other races can 

feed off this persona that all colored people, such as Latino and Black, are dangerous because of their 

tough attitude of living in the ghetto.  This can result in unfair consequences such as accusing a 

colored man of a crime, rather than an innocent looking person or man because it is expected of the 

colored man to act in such tough, dangerous behavior.

                               
              The video clip above shows how these Cholos prove who is the toughest in their barrio.

       
      The movie Blood in Blood Out it is about a group of Latino Cholos who grow up in tough 

barrios and how they handle to survive the violence surrounding them. The first four 

minutes of the movie scene show how these rival gang men prove to each other who is the toughest in 

their barrio by getting into a brawl and almost killing each other with bats, guns, etc. Movies like 

these can influence a Latino man and other races to also be violent to prove his toughness and to 

provide for his family such as: selling drugs, stealing from houses or cars. This type of image on how 

Latino men are viewed as all being gangsters can be the reason why some young men fall into that 

lifestyle. Young men look up to these movies because they see how cool it looks to party, do drugs, 

and fight.

  From watching theses videos, I hope viewers can learn the concepts behind society and media

motives such as Disney female characters using their body to get what they want and men always

needing to have this "tough guy" persona. Not many people are aware of the messages that media and

society place out into the world because it is so common in our lives. If someone were to see this

viewpoint of the media, many people would go against it and backlash. Informing oneself about the

massive influences that the media and society gives is important so people can not succumb to this

lifestyle of always having to agree with their viewpoint.