The Merchants of Cool (2001)

• 80%
• 2001
• Documentary
• History
• Music
• Barak Goodman
• Douglas Rushkoff
• Christina Aguilera
• Greg Berlanti

Teenagers in America number more than 30 million and command over 150 billion dollars in disposable income. They are exposed to over 3000 advertising messages in an average day. In contrast to adults, teenagers respond to whatever is "cool", as determined by the trend-setters of the moment. This documentary examines how businesses seek the ever-elusive "cool" and use it to sell products to teens. Alas, once corporations find cool, it soon ceases to be so; this means marketers are forever searching for new products and strategies to capture the attention of their target audience. This documentary also looks at how real life and TV life are blurring together, acting like a feedback loop to push popular teen culture towards more violent and sexual behaviors.