Class Notes 3/10/21

Merchants of Cool

-Anthropologic studies carried out to calculate what is cool amongst teens

- They talk to them and get know teens on a personal level from what they like to wear to what they like to eat

- They sought over teens because they have become the demographic spending the most money without really much limitations (in the year 2001)

-Sprite has become the kids' drink using different advertisement tactics, even mocking tactics in order to get kids to buy

-Now it's endorsements by musicians and rappers

-MTV utilizes "knowing the teen" in order to keep views up and know what is cool

- the MTV show TRL becomes a glorified show of advertisements so kids are always marketed something

-mook- a very misogynistic, crude reckless, and very angry young man

-midriff- the female character defined as more of a sexual object

- these stock characters were utilized as something from MTV to label kids, or images they were selling these kids

-Dawson's Creek- gave a risky image to adolescence, being one of the main characters was pining over their teacher

-Spring Break on MTV seen as the conglomerate of all these risque and wild images for teens

-Britney Spears: giving girls the okay to be sexual deviants and "owning their body"

-Rage rock: Limp Biscuit and Insane Clown Posse

-defined as the cool music of the day

-gained major popularity and places on MTV shows

-encourages teens to feel frustrated and lonely

-Kids culture and media culture are now one in the same

"The Persuaders"

-Advertisers use and study people's psychological relationship to advertisements and things they buy

-The average American is constantly surrounded by advertisements more than enough times a day.

-branding messages become a deeper part of our lives

-logos, slogans, and the products begin to represent so much more

-and they are defined to have an underlying suggestion or association in one's heart with some important

- they play on emotions: making sure that their product is sold to give a sense of belonging

- they also relationships as a way to sell.

-"iconic place in your heart"

- nobody really knows though how these images work and specifically to whom (personality wise and what type of person they are)

-Sex and The City- the absolute hunk was made by an actual alcohol company

-the emotional focused advertisement is used in petitioning and voting and is directed to whomever they may be talking to.

-Axcyion- collects data about consumers....has become much easier now.

-politicians bought this data for campaign purposes...they do this still, but much worse.

-Ads:

-what is their ideology?

-what is their message?

-what do they value?

-what do they ask of us?

-advertisements self the individual mindset of you are the focus, you are what matters

-we are all persuaders

-there is no more us and them anymore