Complete 1 page APA formatted essay: Short Answers on Merchants of Cool.

3) “Marketers have to find a way to Seem Real” means that the marketers have to give an impression that they are ‘real’ by living lives that the teen generation can identify with. They have to adopt attitudes that to teenagers perceive as ‘cool’.

5) To counter the plummeting ratings in 1990s, MTV adopted ethnography study. In this study, MTV focused on learning the teens by visiting their homes and collecting personal information. They did this by asking them personal questions and go through their belongings such as their music albums. The researchers also got involved in the teens’ lives by accompanying them to social places such as to nightclubs. These activities were recorded as they happened then later, they were translated to video clips that were presented to MTV’s management.

“Midriff” is the character inclined to teenage girls. It is highly sexualized, sophisticated and populates television shows such as Cruel Intentions. A juvenile and boorish behaved character on the other hand brands the “mook”. The “Mook” is a misogynistic, crude, and extremely angry adolescent.

7) The system designed to appeal to the “MOOK” keeps the teens’ under incessant surveillance. This helps the researchers determine the things that trigger the teens’ emotions and actions thus understand them better and

9) To overcome the resistance, marketers have to embrace the challenge and market the products in spite of their inadequacies. For instance, in the case of Insane Clown Posse, MTV marketed their music relentlessly even though the genre of music they created represented violence, profanity and misogyny. Today, the band has become a big name in the music industry.

10) Marketers have gone too far in their efforts to sell to the youth. Every marketer has his or her version of what should be perceived as cool. This readymade version of ‘cool’ has taken away the teens’ power to focus on their