Documentary Film Analysis Essay on the Merchants of Cool and Generation Like

Published: 2021-06-25
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A generation like and Merchants of Cool analyzes how marketing and advertising play a significant role in pushing the popular culture. The two documentaries examine how the big media firms are manipulating the culture of the teenagers. The information collected from teenagers play a critical role in product design, development, and marketing while at the same time this segment of the population provides a strong market in the fashion industry.

The documentary of the Merchants of Cool considers the purchasing and selling of cool where the consumers are Americans teenagers. During a particular year, the teens in America spent about $100 billion of their money influencing their parents to spend an additional $50 billion ("Watch The Full Program | Merchants Of Cool | FRONTLINE | PBS"). Currently, the young generation is free in creating its authentic culture. However, the marketers usually study their desires and hope then they amplify and sell them back to the teenagers.

Social media plays a significant role in Generation like because todays teens can interact directly with their culture including celebrities, brands, movies, and others in ways, which were not possible before. It is not true whether this strategy is empowerment or the marketers have the upper hand in the market. The author in a Generation Like also explores the perennial teen quest concerning their identity and the connection that has migrated to the social media ("Generation Like - Transcript"). It also exposes cat and mouse game that firms are playing with the young consumers. The documentary is a compelling examination of the current evolving and complicated relationship between corporations that are increasingly targeting them and teens.

In the Merchants of Cool documentary, people spend time sifting through market research data. Additionally, they conduct various surveys and focus groups as they comb the schools, streets, and malls, which will share the preys attention with a market segment that is worth $150 billion yearly. They are referred to as merchants of cool. They are the sellers and the creators of the popular culture making the teenagers the hottest consumers in America ("Watch The Full Program | Merchants Of Cool | FRONTLINE | PBS"). They reflect the desires of the teens, and they manufacture their desires in securing the lucrative market. In the documentary, the author tries to examine the techniques, cultural reunifications, or tactics of the marketing moguls that exist in the merchant of cool.

According to the documentary of Generation Like, the corporate marketers usually co-opt the teens. The social media plays a significant role in this situation by corrupting the mind of the youths. A generation like is also a fascinating documentary that considers the world in which Retweets, online endorsements, and likes are the universal currency that spawns a new breed of consultants that take the risk out of the public opinion ("Generation Like - Transcript"). Through the documentary, I have learned that the teens have an evolving relationship with the current technology and they rarely consider their privacy.

Through the documentary of the Merchants of Cool, I have learned that the marketers usually try to learn what is cool from the teens for them to replicate it and then sell it back to them through the most popular brands like Nike. It also explores the research of the audience and influences the opinion of the leaders. The documentary of generation like also explores the culture of the teens and the relationship that it as with the social media. Therefore, the marketers have some connection with the teens through the social media. The documentary also explores how the teenagers know how businesses utilize the social media in building a relationship that exists among them. From the celebrities in the television, they establish youtube stars to market various movies including Hunger Games movies. It also provides a fascinating look that usually drives the young individuals to utilize the social media.

The documentary of Generation like also indicates how the companies have co-opted the social media in the marketing campaigns for the commodities that range from biscuits, chocolate, to movies. It also follows the current stars of Twitter and Facebook parlayed with their obsessions in the popular culture and the internet to the lucrative careers. Followers and likes are traded among actors that seek the better and bigger online profiles. At times, the young individuals feel that they are being used and they are taking in the prospect of achieving their celebrity ("Generation Like - Transcript"). This issue is a fascinating look at the current teenagers and the firms, which sell and talk to them.

The documentary of the Merchants of Cool makes a compelling case for the distortion of the youths culture through commercialization. Marketing happens to every individual most of the time and no one is immune to its influence or being exempted from its reach. However, the purchasing power and the sheer size of the current generation of teenagers have created a gold rush for an aggressive brand ("Watch The Full Program | Merchants Of Cool | FRONTLINE | PBS"). The documentary also describes a feedback that marketers are conducting exhaustive ethnographic studies of the teenagers while trying to figure out what is cool then give them feedback through the media. The documentary also shows that the media culture and kids culture are the same and this makes it impossible to tell the once that comes first. This strategy is regarded as anger or rather the marketing of violence.

In Generation Like, the kids today believe that one is what he or she likes. According to the documentary, many American teenagers are in a bid of exploring the complicated relationship that exists between the big name brands and the young consumers who work consistently to target them. According to the teens in this documentary, social media makes them feel inspired. The generation like documentary also examines the modern marketing culture ("Generation Like - Transcript").

The documentary of the Merchants of Cool also explains how the media firms manipulate the culture of the teens. Additionally, Weber saw a connection of the Orwells message on the power of language to control and influence. The documentary also talks to the top marketer's cultural critics, media executives, and it explores symbiotic relationship which exists between the current teen and media while they look for each other for identity ("Watch The Full Program | Merchants Of Cool | FRONTLINE | PBS"). The critics in the merchants of cool indeed reflect the desires of the modern teenagers or when they are stoking an infatuation culture with imagery and music, which glorifies sex and violence. The current culture and imagery also glorify attitudes and anti-social behavior. In the present media-saturated environment and things like questions that are difficult to answer. Therefore, the documentary shows that the current culture of the teens is changing and media has an enormous influence on the culture.

In conclusion, the two documentaries play a significant role in showing the relationship between media and the teenagers. They also indicate how the big companies are using the teens to fulfill their gains by doing research concerning their interests then selling the products back to them. The two documentaries are concentrating on the latest trends with the long-term quest of commoditizing the teenagers and their passions.

Works Cited

"Generation Like - Transcript." FRONTLINE, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/generation-like/transcript/.

"Watch The Full Program | Merchants Of Cool | FRONTLINE | PBS." Pbs.Org, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/cool/view/.

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