"The Merchants of Cool"

[Doug Millison]

"They spend their days sifting through reams of market research data. 
They conduct
endless 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 $300 billion a year. They are the merchants of cool: 
creators and sellers of popular culture who have made teenagers the 
hottest consumer demographic in America. But are they simply 
reflecting teen desires or have they begun to manufacture those 
desires in a bid to secure this lucrative market? And have they gone 
too far in their attempts to reach the hearts--and wallets--of 
America's youth? FRONTLINE correspondent Douglas Rushkoff examines 
the tactics, techniques, and cultural ramifications of these 
marketing moguls in "The Merchants of Cool." 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."

...continues at
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/cool/preview/synopsis.html

...and I think I heard on the radio today (Rushkoff interviewed on 
"Fresh Air") that the program airs on some PBS stations in the U.S. 
tonight, on others next week.

Reminds me of the girls in the mall in Vineland and other instances 
of media using youth culture to push the corporate agenda. Rushkoff 
is a friend (he wrote for a magazine I published in the early '90s 
which sought to empower youth with access to interactive multimedia 
technology but which failed, in the final analysis, to avoid being 
exploited by corporate advertisers and investors who wanted to do 
precisely what Rushkoff exposes in this program; Rushkoff himself 
went off to consult with corporations who wanted to understand the 
youth market, before going into academia), so I'm happy to tout his 
show, although I have no pecuniary interest therein.  I expect it 
will be Holocaust- although perhaps not Ur-fascist-free.
-- 
d  o  u  g    m  i  l  l  i  s  o  n  <http://www.online-journalist.com>