The Frontline documentaries, Merchants of Cool (2001) and Generation Like (2014), tackle two different generations of teens that have one thing in common: the search for validation. Douglas Rushkoff serves as the writer and correspondent for both documentaries.
In the 2001 Frontline: Merchants of Cool, Rushkoff examined the approach and impact of marketing companies on the so-called MTV generation, as well as the pursuit of “cool”. “Cool hunters”, or “Culture spies”, were adults who constantly roved through the teen population looking for the next “cool” trend or movement. They may have recruited teens to help with their hunt, but the adults were the ones with all the power and control. Major companies paid for access to the information these “cool hunters” gathered, which was then used for their own marketing campaigns.
Rushkoff interviewed teens and staff of the major companies that targeted teens such as the television networks MTV (Music Television) and the WB (Warner Brothers). Because this documentary is currently sixteen years old, modern audiences have the luxury of knowing the answers to some of the questions the documentary posed such as, “What does this relentless pursuit of the teenager do to the culture?” (0:48) “…And to the teenagers themselves?” (1:00) (Rushkoff, Frontline: Merchants of Cool, 2001).
In short, the “pursuit” killed the “culture” and caused the teens to move on. Once teens are aware they are being lied and pandered to by an advertising or marketing company, they no longer want to be associated with the brand or “the culture”. As Rushkoff stated around 9:25, “That is the paradox of cool hunting: it kills what it finds. As soon as marketers discover cool, it stops being cool” (Rushkoff, Frontline: Merchants of Cool, 2001).
In Frontline: Generation Like (2014), the pursuit of cool has been replaced by the pursuit of “likes”. It is the same search for validation presented in a different format. Rushkoff interviewed both teens and marketing representatives, and he asked around 2:53, “What are companies doing to our kids through technology and how can they and we be made more aware?” (Rushkoff, Frontline: Generation Like, 2014). In short, companies are still “cool hunting” as they did in 2001, however, this generation’s teens are freely helping them.
The pursuit of the teen demographic has evolved in the years between the documentaries. Whereas in Frontline: Merchants of Cool (2001), marketing representatives had to physically invade teen spaces in order to spy on them, in Frontline: Generation Like (2014) it all happens online. According to the Lenhart article, “Teens, social media & technology overview, 2015”, “Nearly three-quarters of teens have or have access to a smartphone…” and “Among these ‘mobile teens,’ 94% go online daily or more often” (Lenhart, 2015).
Teens now pursue the marketing. By liking a brand’s page on social media, teens are freely informing the brand who their demographic is and what that demographic also likes. The marketing companies take that information and use it to create new advertising platforms.
For the MTV generation, “selling out”, or becoming a part of the money-making corporate machine, was the worse thing an artist could do. For Generation Like, “selling out” is the goal. If a teen has enough likes or followers, interested companies may ask the teen to promote their products. Endorsement deals or free promotional materials are sent directly to them, effectively giving them the power over marketing that the MTV generation never had.
Teens may like or promote an artist because they connect to their work on an emotional level. Seeing their favorite artist promoted on a major platform may make the teen feel validated in their choice of music. This is something that both the MTV generation and Generation Like have in common: the pursuit of validation.
There is no concrete definition for what “cool” is, however, every teenager, no matter the generation, wants to be cool. It is a fickle, abstract idea that may be captured for a moment before it changes into something else. But who decides what is or is not cool? Is it the teens themselves or the marketing companies that are constantly monitoring them?
At around 42 minutes into Frontline: Merchants of Cool (2001), Rushkoff mentioned a sort of “Feedback loop” whereby the media analyzes teens, sells teens an image of themselves, the teens then try to copy that image, the marketers look at this new image then project another image, and so on and so on. It is an endless cycle that blurs the lines of input and control.
Teens are looking for self-validation and self-expression through their choices of dress, music, and even social platforms. Marketing companies take advantage of this search for self by selling the promise of validation. If a teen wants to look “cool” or be “liked”, then by either buying a company’s products, or being asked to promote a company’s product, everyone will know they are cool. After all, being “cool” and “liked” is the ultimate goal.
Why?
Because being labeled cool or garnering millions of likes makes teens feel socially accepted and valued. This is something that anyone who works with teens should understand. It is not merely vanity that causes a teen to spend half an hour trying to perfect a selfie. It is a deeper desire for acceptance.
Modern teens may have more control over marketing than their predecessors, but working with the machine does not mean you are free from it. Teaching self-confidence and instilling an understanding of marketing tactics either through promoted reading materials, (such as The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins or 1984 by George Orwell), or through workshops designed to create more online-savvy teens, would go a long way towards lessening corporate control. However, in today’s media-based culture there is no way to be truly free of it. Instead, we can only teach our teens to be aware of the trap that is corporate America.
References
Lenhart, A. (2015). “Teens, social media & technology overview 2015.” Pew Research Center. Retrieved from http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/04/09/teens-social-media- technology-2015/
Rushkoff, D. (2014) Frontline: Generation Like. [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/generation-like/
Rushkoff, D. (2001). Frontline: Merchants of Cool. [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/cool/view/
Gif retrieved from: Giphy.com
Amanda P. 
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