The Merchants of Cool Poster

Frontline: Season 19, Episode 5

The Merchants of Cool (27 Feb. 2001)

TV Episode  -  55 min  -  Documentary | Crime | History
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How businesses market to American teenagers, and the effect they have together on popular culture.

Director:

Barak Goodman
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Cast

Episode credited cast:
Douglas Rushkoff Douglas Rushkoff ...
Himself - Correspondent
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Shaggy 2 Dope Shaggy 2 Dope ...
Himself
Christina Aguilera ...
Herself (archive footage)
Greg Berlanti ...
Himself
Bob Bibb Bob Bibb ...
Himself
Jessica Biel ...
Herself (archive footage)
Adam Carolla ...
Himself (archive footage)
Todd Cunningham Todd Cunningham ...
Himself
Carson Daly ...
Himself (archive footage)
Susanne Daniels Susanne Daniels ...
Herself
Fred Durst ...
Himself (archive footage)
Malcolm Gladwell ...
Himself
Lewis Goldstein ...
Himself
Dee Dee Gordon Dee Dee Gordon ...
Himself
Brian Graden ...
Himself
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Storyline

Teenagers in America number more than 30 million and command over 150 billion dollars in disposable income. They are exposed to over 3000 advertising messages in an average day. In contrast to adults, teenagers respond to whatever is "cool", as determined by the trend-setters of the moment. This documentary examines how businesses seek the ever-elusive "cool" and use it to sell products to teens. Alas, once corporations find cool, it soon ceases to be so; this means marketers are forever searching for new products and strategies to capture the attention of their target audience. This documentary also looks at how real life and TV life are blurring together, acting like a feedback loop to push popular teen culture towards more violent and sexual behaviors. Written by yortsnave  

Plot Summary | Add Synopsis

Plot Keywords:

Teen | Advertising | Wrestling | MTV | Underground Music  | See more »

Genres:

Documentary | Crime | History | Music | News | Sport

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Details

Official Sites:

PBS | Add/edit official sites  »

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

(USA) See more »

Company Credits

Show detailed company contact information on IMDbPro »
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Did You Know?

Quotes

Violent J: Everybody that likes our music feels a super connection. That's why all those juggalos here, they feel so connected to it, because it's exclusively theirs. See, when something's on the radio, it's for everybody, you know what I mean? It's everybody's song, "Oh, this is my song". That ain't your song. It's on the radio, it's everybody's song. But to listen to ICP, you feel like you're the only one who knows about it.
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Connections

Edited from I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998) See more »

Soundtracks

"Red Neck Hoe '99"
Written by Mike E. Clark, Violent J, Shaggy 2 Dope, Jamie Madrox and Monoxide
Performed by Insane Clown Posse and Twiztid See more »