Merchants of Cool Teacher Guide PDF
Merchants of Cool Teacher Guide PDF
Merchants of Cool Teacher Guide PDF
hey spend their days sifting through reams of market research data. They conduct endless
T surveys and focus groups. They comb the streets, the schools, and the malls, hot on the trail of
the "next big thing" that will snare the attention of their prey--a market segment worth an
estimated $150 billion a year.
In “The Merchants of Cool,” which first aired Feburary 27, 2001, FRONTLINE correspondent
Douglas Rushkoff examines the tactics, techniques, and cultural ramifications of these marketing
moguls. Produced by Barak Goodman and Rachel Dretzin, the program talks with top marketers,
media executives and cultural/media critics, and explores the symbiotic relationship between the
media and today's teens, as each looks to the other for their identity.
CURRICULAR CONNECTIONS
Just as you might add to your students’ knowledge of a piece of literature by providing historical
context and profiling the author, “The Merchants of Cool,” which first aired on PBS February 27, 2001,
provides vital background information about key media “storytellers.” Because it exposes motives and
techniques, the film is an invaluable tool for teaching media literacy. And because it is about their
world, “The Merchants of Cool” is sure to hold students’ attention and provide you with an excellent
opportunity to engage them in discussions of culture, history, business, economics, ethics, mathemat-
ics, health, performing arts, gender stereotypes, ethnography, literature, social studies, and civics.
•There are 31.6 million 12-19 year-olds in the U.S., the largest generation ever. (U.S. Census
Bureau, 2000)
•Teens are exposed to an estimated 3,000 ads a day. (Adbusters)
•65% of U.S. teens have TV sets in their own rooms. (Kaiser Family Foundation)
•83% of U.S. teens reported going online last year. (Teen Research Unlimited)
•Last year, U.S. teens spent an estimated $105 billion and influenced their parents to spend
an additional $48 billion. (Teen Research Unlimited)
•In 1998, U.S. companies spent nearly $200 billion on advertising. Worldwide ad spending
is estimated at $435 billion. (Advertising Age and the United Nations Human Development Report, cited in Klein)
CURRICULAR CONNECTIONS
2
TIPS FOR TEACHING MEDIA LITERACY
We care about our students, so when we think • Include potential solutions or actions as part
that media makers may be manipulating them or of your discussion. Lessons that stop at
doing them harm, it’s natural for us to react with identification of a problem tend to leave students
concern or even anger. But if we let these feeling cynical rather than skeptical or inquisitive.
feelings block our ability to listen to our students
or to respect their opinions (especially when they • Because everyone interprets what they see
differ from our own), we lose and hear through the lens of
an important opportunity to their own experience, the
connect. more different you are from
your students, the more likely
Here’s how you can retain it is that you will interpret
your opinions without letting media messages differently.
them get in the way of engag- So be prepared to encounter
ing your students: opinions that differ from your
own and to recognize that
• Keep in mind that “The multiple interpretations can be
Merchants of Cool” is about valid.
teen culture. Just as you would treat a student’s
ethnic, racial, or religious culture with respect, • Find out what has touched your students by
approach their media culture with respect. opening your discussion with very broad
questions, e.g., “What struck you most about this
• Rather than convey a pre-determined film?” or “What will you tell your friends about
conclusion, i.e., telling students what the this film when you see them at lunch?” or “In one
message is, focus on giving students the skills word, describe how you felt while watching this
they need to interpret messages for themselves. film. Explain your answer.”
3
DISCUSSION TOPICS
4
DISCUSSION TOPICS continued • In the program, several market researchers
claim that parents contribute to the prominence of
the teen market by giving them “guilt” money. Do
CONTEXT: People / Society you agree? What techniques might you use to
• Like author Naomi Klein (see “Resources”), gather evidence to prove or disprove their asser-
“The Merchants of Cool” argues that advertising tion? Besides parents, where else might teens
has changed from sponsoring culture to becom - be getting the money they spend? Do you think
ing culture (e.g., Sprite sponsoring a concert as the marketers’ picture of parents is true for all
opposed to Sprite becoming a component of hip families? If not, which families are being left out
hop culture). What’s the difference? What hap- of their picture and why?
pens to culture when its purpose is sales rather
than expression?
QUOTES TO USE AS DISCUSSION
• Distinguished scholar George Gerbner has STARTERS
asserted that those who control a society’s stories “The paradox of “cool hunting” is that it kills
have the power to shape that society’s values. what it finds.” - Douglas Rushkoff
Who has control over your stories? Who do you What are the implications of cool hunting for the
want to have that control? Does who tells a story development of new ideas, new music, new art
matter? Does MTV give an accurate voice to forms, etc.?
your stories? How does commercial control (i.e.,
control by those who are primarily interested in “In much the same way that the British
selling things) of media influence the kind of Empire tried to take over Africa and profit
stories our society hears? from its wealth, corporations look at [teens]
like this massive empire they are coloniz-
• Various social scientists devote their careers ing…And their weapons are films, music,
to helping us understand people who are different books, CDs, Internet access, clothing, amuse-
from us. For example, anthropologists study the ment parks, sports teams.”
structures and customs of a society or communi- - Robert McChesney
ty. Ethnographers are anthropologists who focus Are “cool hunters” and those who use the infor -
on looking at the impact of culture on people’s mation they supply similar to colonial powers?
lives. Are there parallels between “cool hunters” Do they exploit teens or are they providing
and anthropologists? Between market desired benefits and services?
researchers and ethnographers? Why might
adults see teen society or culture as so different “They don’t call it “human” research or “peo-
or closed that they need researchers to tell them ple” research, they call it “market” research.”
what your life is really like? - Douglas Rushkoff
Did the marketers in “The Merchants of Cool” get
• Correspondent Douglas Rushkoff argues that it right? Do they really know you? If MTV was
“rage rock” is an attempt to break the hold of really based on understanding you as a person,
marketers on teen culture (“I dare you to put this what would it look like?
in the mall.”) Do you agree, or are there other
reasons behind the popularity of music “The MTV machine doesn’t listen to the young
celebrating anger or hate? Does “cool hunting” so it can make the young happier…The MTV
make increasingly destructive expressions machine tunes in so it can figure out how to
inevitable, or are there other ways to break the pitch what Viacom has to sell.”
marketing “feedback loop” (e.g., the recent - Mark Crispin Miller
protests of the World Trade Organization in Are marketers concerned with the well-being of
Seattle and elsewhere)? the consumer? Do they answer to consumers?
If not, who do they answer to? Is marketing to
teens different from marketing to adults?
5
ACTIVITIES
• English: Ask students to write a description of What techniques are used to convey the
the image conveyed by a logo they often wear. messages?
• Social Studies: Encourage students to look
more closely at the “made in” labels in their cloth- Who is the target audience and how do you
ing and compare the realities of global production know?
with the image of particular brands.
• History: Explore the history of clothing and its ACTIVITY 4: AUTHENTICITY
use in reinforcing class and caste distinctions. Have students define the word “authentic” and
• Math: Compare how much the addition of a assign them to create a visual representation of
popular logo adds to the price of a pair of jeans the various facets their “authentic” selves. Facets
or a shirt. Conduct a statistical survey of brands of their identity might include things like cultural,
most popular in your class compared with the religious, or racial heritage; family, neighborhood,
brands most frequently advertised on MTV. or community; song lyrics, magazines, clothing;
• General: Consider the impact of branding on favorite TV shows, hobbies, or sports, etc.
social relations between various groups at school. To practice public speaking or writing you might
ask each student to explain their choices. Then
ACTIVITY 2: CREATE A BRANDING have them look at the sources of the items they
CAMPAIGN chose. Use the “Connecting the Dots” section to
To integrate the content of “The Merchants of help students determine whether there are any
Cool” into a literature or social studies class, have corporate interests represented in their self-por-
students assume the role of “cool hunter” and traits. For example, who profits from the logo on
focus their attention on literary characters or his- their favorite pants? Who owns the label that
torical figures they have studied. Who would they their favorite band records on? Let the class gen-
choose as “cool” and why? Have them design a erate a list of corporations connected to their
marketing campaign to appeal to that person. expressions of authenticity and talk about what
De-brief the activity by asking them to justify the they see as the distinction between their actual
techniques used in their campaign and what selves and corporate reflections of their identity.
kinds of information they needed to know about Then discuss Douglas Rushkoff’s question about
their target audience to design an effective cam- his own youth culture in “The Merchants of Cool”:
paign. You might also have students assess Was it just something being sold to us, or was it
whether the campaign(s) developed by the class something that came from us? An act of expres-
were ever misleading or unethical. Wrap up by sion not of consumption? Has that boundary
asking students to look for present day examples been completely erased?
of “spin” that mirror the techniques they used.
6
RESOURCES
BOOKS
Rushkoff, Douglas. Coercion: Why We Listen to What They Say. Riverhead, 1999.
The most recent book by the film’s correspondent exposes marketing techniques and explores how
marketing has become embedded in our culture.
Wolf, Michael J. The Entertainment Economy: How Mega-Media Forces Are Transforming Our
Lives. Times Books, 1999.
Written by a leading media consultant, this book examines how media has become the driving force in
the global economy. Especially appropriate for those interested in business or economics courses.
BONUS ACTIVITY
WEB SITES
Advertising Age - The major magazine for In addition to using these web sites as resources,
advertising professionals. Its profiles of ad cam- you may want to use them as a basis for class-
paigns often include product sales percentage room activities. Choose a research topic and
increases associated with particular ads. divide students into small groups, sending each
Selected articles are available on-line at group to one of the web sites. Have each group
www.adage.com. report what they found at their site to the rest of
the class and discuss the differences.
KidScreen - Much like Advertising Age, but
specifically directed at people who market to chil- Or have students do web searches using different
dren. Older articles are archived on their web but related keywords or using the same key-
site, www.kidscreen.com. word(s) but with different search engines. Useful
keywords might include:
www.adbusters.org - The people who made ad marketing + teens
parodies and “culture jamming” famous. cool hunting
consumerism
www.adcritic.com - A great source to look at media analysis or media literacy
current popular ads. media analysis or advertising analysis
media research or market research
www.medialit.org - The web site for the Center
for Media Literacy, the U.S. clearinghouse for
media literacy materials, provides easy links to
dozens of other sites.
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REFLECTIONS FOR EDUCATORS CREDITS, ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
MTV shares at least one thing with teachers: it This guide was developed by Simone Bloom
wants to reach teens and influence their behavior. Nathan, EdM and Anne Kaplan, MA, Media
According to its CEO, MTV believes that to reach Education Consultants and written by Faith
teens effectively you must “immerse yourself in Rogow, PhD, with input from Jim Bracciale, Erin
their reality: in their music, in their art, in the Martin Kane, and Jessica Smith of FRONTLINE
things that they read. And if you see it or and “The Merchants of Cool” teacher’s guide
approach it any other way, and approach it as an advisory panel. Advisors include Ellen
anonymous, faceless, homogenous target mar- Greenblatt, educator, University High School, San
ket, then you will fail.” What, if anything, might Francisco; LaTanya Bailey Jones, Vice President
advocates for standardized testing (which, by def- of the Alliance for a Media Literate America;
inition, assumes a “faceless, homogenous” group) Annie Rogers, PhD, Associate Professor of
learn from MTV? What are the potential implica- Education, Harvard Graduate School of
tions of educators adopting marketing tech- Education; and Ann Sunwall, Manager of
niques? Do teachers have alternative ways to Community Relations, KTCA St. Paul, Minnesota.
effectively reach teens that they might share with
marketers? FRONTLINE is produced by WGBH Boston and
broadcast nationwide on PBS. Funding for
What media do your students typically consume? FRONTLINE is provided through the support of
What are their favorite TV shows? Bands? PBS Viewers. National corporate funding provid-
Movies? Web sites? Video games? How does ed by EarthLink®.
what they see and hear influence how they
engage with the material you present? How does
it influence their language, their perception of nor-
mal, or the kinds of things they do to assert inde-
pendence?