Merchants of Cool, Essay Example

Stealth techniques that are used by marketers in order to secure sales to adolescents in the U.S. are justified by the financial bottom line. However, these techniques are unethical because they trespass on the normal development of cultural and individual identities. There is also evidence to suggest that marketing techniques, such as those documented in the PBS report “The Merchants of Cool,” result in a greater degree of peer categorization which, in turn, results in a rigid hierarchy or caste system among adolescent social groups. These hierarchies and caste systems are often intricately tied to perceived purchasing power, and the ability to brandish brands as a sign of status. The best conclusion that can be drawn after watching the PBS program is that the techniques used by marketers is based in a form of greed that is so strong that it overrides any sense of cultural, civic, or even human responsibility and care. However justifiable by the pursuit of almighty profit, the stealth techniques reported in the documentary should be regarded as a threat to individual and public welfare, and as an unethical exploitation of the populace.

One of the main motives for this continued exploitation is, of course, the belief that using stealth techniques will result not only in immediate increased sales, but in creating long-term reliable consumers. This is part of the reason why corporations and marketers are so intensely interested in gaining the attention of adolescents. Most sellers believe that if a person is turned into a customer at an early age, that person can be more easily persuaded to remain in a lasting relationship with a given product. The article Freaks, Geeks, and Cool Kids: American Teenagers, Schools, and the Culture of Consumption (2004) by M. Milner notes that teens are regarded by marketers as prime targets partially because of the potential to convert them to serial buyers. Milner writes, “Perhaps most important, teenagers are seen as a crucial future market… Marketers are aware of the long-term impact of habits and taste developed in adolescence and they are concerned to shape taste and brand loyalty during this seminal period.” (Milner, 2004, p. 158). This is a powerful justification for the use of stealth marketing.

Another powerful justification for the use of stealth marketing techniques on teens is the enormous purchasing power that teens wield, collectively, in American society. According to an article in the Washington Times titled, Fighting Admen for Teens’ Mind, (2009), “Today’s adolescents spend an estimated $200 billion a year of their own money. They are the most affluent generation of young people in the history of the world, which also makes them the most marketed to.” (“Fighting Admen for Teens’,” 2009). The sheer amount of wealth that is controlled by teens presents a justification for the marketing techniques that are evidenced in The Merchants of Cool program. After-all, the entire purpose of business is to make a profit and if there is so much money to be made in selling to tens, then the company or corporation that finds the best ways to market to teens deserves to make a higher profit.

A third justification for the use of stealth marketing techniques on adolescents is that teens not only spend their own money, but they hold significant influence over the way that the adults in their life, particularly their parents, spend money. Milner points out that marketers recognize teens “as a significant influence on their parents’ spending” (Milner, 2004, p. 157) and that this leads them to develop strategies that serve a dual purpose of marketing directly to teens and simultaneously to adults through teens. The method by which this is done is through the creation of social “totems” and cultural status symbols that are as important for adults as they are for adolescents. In fact, as suggested at the opening of this discussion, ideas of status and cultural identity are the primary focus of the stealth marketing techniques in question. The fact that teens can be effectively used to influence the buying habits of their parents is a sound justification for using stealth marketing techniques because, again, from a business point of view, it is simply a sound strategy.

Basically these three points form the overall justification for the use of stealth marketing techniques. In short the process evolves out of the recognition by marketers that teens can be best approached through cultural means rather than by direct marketing. In short, marketers today are honing in and preying on the human tendency to create hierarchies and cliques in social communities. As stated in the previously quoted Washington Times article, “Today, selling to teens isn’t about finding out what they want – it’s about figuring out how to manipulate their minds.” (“Fighting Admen for Teens’,” 2009). This begs the question as to whether the stealth techniques used by marketers have any impact on teens other than creating consumer demand and brand loyalty and whether or not any of these consequences may be intentionally or unintentionally detrimental.

To understand how the impact of stealth advertising might be detrimental to teens, it is necessary to briefly review the nature of the techniques being discussed. According to The Merchants of Cool program, some of the stealth techniques that are used by marketers include making a scientific study of teen culture in a way that is similar to the methods that scientists use to study animals in the wild. Marketers also study the psychological and emotional development of adolescents in order to better gauge their messages. Another technique used by marketers is to infiltrate the lives and homes of teens and basically keep them under surveillance to gain insight into their habits and lifestyles. By utilizing this sweeping research along with carefully crafted consumer testimonials and celebrity endorsements, marketers attempt to accomplish to main things: first, to insert their product into the natural cultural and personal development of American adolescents and their families, and second, to prolong this state of adolescence in their customers for as long as possible, thereby encouraging a form of arrested emotional and psychological development.

This fact is brought out fully in the PBS documentary. The impact of stealth advertising goes far beyond simply raising awareness about or interest in a product or brand. It is the depth of this impact that forms one focus of “The Merchants of Cool” which should be considered “the definitive study on how teens are being used by an industry peddling a worldview that keeps them hyped up and caught up in the worst inclinations of the teen years.” (“Fighting Admen for Teens’,” 2009). The fact is that the marketing techniques associated with stealth campaigns not only negatively impact teens; they are designed specifically to do so. By arresting the development of children, and then adolescents, advertisers are able to keep people in a state of vulnerability which allows them to be easier to convert into sales. The pursuit of wealth and profit is so intense among these marketers and corporations that they are energetically pursuing a program that is designed to inhibit the growth and well-being of children and teens to the point of stagnation. This must be considered to be an unethical practice by any rational person and certainly as such by any person who possesses compassion or empathy.

Another unethical dimension to the stealth practices of marketers is that these techniques influence and intensify the harsh social competitiveness that exists among teen peer groups. According to Milner, status is one of the most important aspects of adolescent social groups. In teen settings, status is often signified by clothes, possessions, and brand identity. This is the result of the continuous marketing practices previously describes above. Milner suggests that by inserting products into the dynamic of social hierarchies, marketers make it easier for rigid social hierarchies to exist and also to be enforced and maintained. In Milner’s estimation, the amount of status that an individual has is very difficult to change in the adolescent world. Milner writes “Once status systems become well established, they are relatively stable. Adolescents repeatedly report the difficulty of changing their status once their peers have categorized them.” (Milner, 2004, p. 83). Therefore, it is logical to conclude that products harden social pecking-orders rather than offering individuals a way to rise within a given peer group structure.

Another key element of the social hierarchy dimension of stealth advertising is that the identification of products with social clout is not an affectation in teen peer groups, but a perceived reality. Milner writes that, in regard to brand identification and peer group status.” These various examples indicate that for status to be valuable, it must be rooted in relatively authentic expressions of approval and disapproval.” (Milner, 2004, p. 83). This means that products and marketing have entered into the formative social development of adolescents in America at an organic level, or as much so as is possible for an inorganic thing like marketing. This must also be regarded as an unethical practice because not only are peer group hierarchies a recognized danger due to hazing and bullying, but the insertion of marketing at such an intimate level into the development of  teen social awareness is non-consensual on the part of the teens and its possible consequences are not understood.

After watching the “Merchants of Cool,” at least some the possible consequences of stealth marketing are brought to light. As clearly shown in the preceding discussion, the use of stealth marketing against teens in America is rampant. It is also justifiable on behalf of those who perpetrate stealth marketing due to its enormous potential for creating profits. Despite the fact that it is an effective and profitable approach to business, it is also an unethical practice. The damaging potential of these techniques may extend far beyond those which have been described in this essay. In order to fully recognize the unethical side of stealth marketing, one need only to prioritize the well-being of people above the profit margins of corporations.

References

Fighting Admen for Teens’ Mind. (2009, May 18). The Washington Times (Washington, DC).

Milner, M., Jr. (2004). Freaks, Geeks, and Cool Kids: American Teenagers, Schools, and the    Culture of Consumption. New York: Routledge.