Inside Coolhunting

When I think about the line "MTV is a commercial, one long infomercial," I think that in many ways everything in the media--at least on television--is like one big infomercial.  When I was watching this, even though lots of the examples seemed out of date, the ideas were really true.

I can really imagine that companies hire "correspondents" to sort of check out what teens are doing and what they are buying.  Then, of course, as we saw in the film, they change their advertising and how they are presenting their products so teens will find them more attractive and spend more money.

When everything seems like a commercial, it's hard to decide what you really need or want and it's hard to use good critical thinking skills when you're looking at products or ideas online. I know I've bought things that I don't really need--or at least I've wanted things that I don't really need because some company or story convinced me that everyone my age has this or want this. Seeing all of this from "behind the scenes" in this film was kind of weird on one level, but also interesting.

One of the other things that I thought was interesting about this film was the way they stereotyped people into the groups of Mooks and Midriffs. In some ways, I imagine that this would make some people feel that this is who they are and how they are supposed to act. Even if you don't fit into one of those groups, you might feel less good about yourself or maybe even sort of "superior."

If you were raised watching television and being online, like most kids my age, it's hard to tell what's real and what's not real in terms of facts or ideas or products. After watching this, I realize that I will probably start questioning a lot more when I see an ad or watch a video. I'll wonder who and what is behind it and what actions they want me to take.