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I guess that’s all a part of being cool. It’s this whole chain; to be cool corporations create products by studying teens and asking them questions about what is cool. After doing their so called experiment they rummage through their collected data and use it to come up with a new product that is aimed at teenagers because as said in the documentary 150 billion dollars are controlled by teens; “Teens are like Africa.” When the product hits the stores, teens go out and buy it. They use the product for a while, and then it gets old because some other corporation created a better and new material. If we stopped spending money on these products realizing that they are fooling us; we will cause harm to many companies out there. They depend on us, and in our minds we think that we depend on them. It’s a back and forth kind of thing. You get to do what you want, if you want to be made into a fool and spend a lot of money on these products then go ahead. There are different types of teens out there; there are the ones that have a lot of money in their pockets and want to spend it one way or the other just so they can flaunt their “coolness”. It’s like the money in their pockets is biting them and they have to spend it or it will cause them harm. Then there are those who don’t waste their money on name brand products; instead they buy something cheap and turn it into something better to show off. If everyone was to be like them, then many corporations out there would be in a lot of loss.

Everyone wants to be known in society so that they can be given attention to, and be considered “cool” amongst others. They all want to be known just so they can be on top of their hierarchy. In Merchants of Cool companies did studies on average teens to see what they think is “cool” at the certain time period. They talked about what they like and what they would they go out for and buy. They gave out print outs with different celebrities and products and asked them to circle the ones that they liked or the ones they thought were “cool”. Later on they showed how big people from certain companies would go into teen’s living spaces just so they can see what type of environment they live in and learn about their life. They will do what ever it takes to be the first one to come up with something that will give them a lot of profit. This causes both teams to be happy; these companies gain insight on teenagers and their personal lives. They are treating the teens as if they are lab rats and are experimenting with them in their natural habitats. At the same time the teens are thinking “whoa, I must be so cool, why else would these guys be here to interview me?”

I think it would be impossible to ban teenagers from advertisements; unless if they were to be put in a jungle until they turned 20. I think that if advertisements were to be banned to everyone, or just to teenagers, it will cause a negative impact to many companies out there. This will cause problems to everyone, not just the people that are involved with these companies. I don’t think that advertisements should be banned; they should be limited. A lot of advertisements can cause many positive affects along with many negative affects. If it were to be banned, then I would say that it should be banned to everyone until they reach the age of 20. After that they are old enough to handle themselves and make the right decisions for themselves as well. If it were to be banned for everyone, then that would be a problem for all the companies out there, and everyone would be lost in their own sense.

Yes, I do think it is evil to help the corporations to manipulate the minds of young people for the sake of profit. If you are involved in doing so, then you will be held responsible for corrupting a youths mind. I don’t think that companies out there should fool their customers by making them feel as if they are the “coolest” people out there. That’s just wrong, sometime in their life they are going to feel guilty that they did such a thing. Corporations out there should make customers in a nice and friendly way; if someone chooses to be a customer then it’s their own choice. They shouldn’t be a part of a sneaky scheme so that they can be brainwashed into buying a product, just so a company can receive a profit.

Hmmm, that’s a hard question. I wouldn’t know what to do if I were to be one of them. I mean there are always pros and cons out there for everything. I would say the better thing they should have done was to refuse the offer of playing this corporate game. Even if that means that you are not getting many listeners or customers you still shouldn’t be a part of such a profit. It’s all about brainwashing people; this is how these people make their living. They get people to join their companies and create customers by brainwashing all of them to think that what they are doing is something very good. If they really sit down and think about it for a while, they aren’t doing such a great thing after all.

I think that what was done to Britney Spears was wrong, but it was in some ways her decision to do all of what she did. I wouldn’t say it was a crime, it all depends on if she thinks it was a crime done upon herself. If she is to think that it was a crime, then I would say the criminals would be all of those people who were in charge of brainwashing her to become something she didn’t want to be before. She went along with it because she was forced to do so by society. The society made it seem as if flaunting her sexuality was a “cool” thing for a girl to do. Now it all depends on what an individual thinks is “cool” in their own mind. Even though she might not have liked it at first, she was forced to do so, so that she could appear “cooler” amongst her competitors at the time. This caused many other young girls to do the same thing their role models were doing. All of the sudden they wanted to change their wardrobe and get a mental and physical makeover to be seen as very “attractive” and very “cool” girls. I guess this all does lead to the image of loveless performance of alienated hyper-sexuality in the name of “cool”. These teens are using their sexuality just so they can stand out amongst others. But the question is, if all of these people are doing the same thing to stand out when compared to others, what will be the difference between them causing them to “stand out”?

This connects in some ways to what Matt Fried said about his past patients. He told us about this guy who got all he ever wanted from his parents but never learned to earn anything on his own, because it was already provided to him. His parents refuse to stop paying for all his needs because they cannot let their son work hard to get something in life. This is sort of like Britney and how the society treated her back then. The society wanted her to stand out using her sexuality so she can seem "older" and "sexier" and be known for all this. Now she is so used to it she can't have a career without using her sexuality in one way or another. The guy that Matt talked about in class is also forced to have everything provided to him because his parents do not want him to suffer like they did. I think that’s pathetic.