The video on "Merchants of Cool" was more of an overview of how we as consumers, can kill something that is "cool" just by consuming it. "What is Hot" is a term that never has a precise answer. It is like asking what time it is, because just as time moves forward, so do trends. The trends of today will fade into new trends that will also expire. The cycle of this ever-changing, consumer driven, clutter of advertising world, is nothing but the cycle of life. We are born, we grown, we adapt, we die. The same goes for what is "cool".
The video starts off by telling you about the growing market of teenagers. This market wasn't as big until we as a specie became too busy. As teenagers of the 70's grew up, they wanted more for their children. They worked longer days, in more concentrated areas of work; with the idea that if they worked now, they could play later. They had children and wanted to provide the best for them, so they worked harder thinking they could eventually enjoy time with their children. But as those children grew up with less parental supervision, they turned to other forms of attention: television, music, fashion, friends. These children spent their time and their parents' money (sometimes their own) on the materialistic things that made them feel comforted. As the commercial industry began to grow, so did the desire to consume it. These, now young adults, were the most consuming generation in history, and still growing. They had to have anything that was new or that their friends had, and their parents wanted them to know that they cared about them, so they bought it for them. This began a spiral of "I bought you what you wanted to show you that I care". This spiral has spun out of control and helped the commercial industry take over family values.
The commercial industry saw growth in sales in this generation and monopolized on it (who could blame them). They kept creating new things for the youth to want, to need, to buy. And the youth did exactly that, they bought it! Just as a songwriter comes up with a song and wants to share it with friends, hoping they will be a fan of it and will spread the word. Eventually that songwriter will become well known enough to get a record contract, a radio station will start playing their song, people will go out and buy the album, and after everyone has heard the song, it no longer becomes in demand. The "trend" is dead. Time for a new song. This is how trends in the world live and die.
With great understanding of their markets, the commercial industry has capitalized on letting the youth decide what is next as far as trends. They no longer go with the "cookie-cutter, everyone wants what's 'hot' today" idea. They want to stay in this business, and to do that they have to be ahead of the curve. So they go out and find some small circle of the market that are doing something the majority is not doing, and exploit it. The video shows a perfect example of this with the following of Insane Clown Posse. ICP is hardcore hip hop (horrorcore) group, that introduced "supernatural- and horror-themed lyrics" to separate themselves from the 'gangsta rap' that flooded the airwaves back in the late 80's early 90's. The commercial industry picked up on the new underground uprise of the "juggalo" following. A record company (Jive Records) swooped in and helped make them a more mainstream name. Disney jumped in and opened them to an even larger market. They had gold and platinum records in no time, and all because the commercial market, shot them into stardom. As their following continued to grow, the commercial industry was done with them and already moving on to new musical talents, like Linkin Park. The cycle was complete in this "trend" and it was time to move on.
This video was very interesting, in that it shows us that nothing we do is without someone else's judgement -be it acceptance or ridicule. We are here for the industry to use as muses and for us to live in the life and death of trends. Without us, trends have no future; and without trends we have no place in this consumer industry.
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