Merchant of Cool

Merchants of cool is about marketing strategies and how people buy into consumerism in order to follow the popular culture. This documentary proves how popular culture can and is capitalized. The reason why people were buying into popular culture was because they wanted to make themselves look cool and therefore become more socially credible. One thing that I am always amazed about is how far companies will go so that their products are sold. They interview certain demographics and create products to fit those needs. In my opinion, companies should be about creating something for the greater good or to fit common needs among everyone. Instead, it is about making the most amount of profit and that is why market researchers interview and report their findings on what should be sold.


This goes to show how media can influence a teen trying to figure out their own identity and how much of an impact media leaves on this person. Because of where we are today, I don’t think we are able to actually find our place in this social structure without media and conforming to some norm. Yes, we might try and say we don’t like to be influenced by what other people think but I don’t think we will ever be able to separate our thoughts from the medias.

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