The movie, "The Merchants of Cool", presented an in-depth look at the relationship between marketing giants and the individuality and "coolness" of teens today. I was surprised by some of the things shown in the movie; not that I was ignorant of the fierce marketing tactics used by companies to sell their product, but I was unaware of the extent that some are willing to go to. Sprite for instance, paid teenagers $50 each to come, …showed first 75 words of 373 total…

…showed last 75 words of 373 total…day, 10 million by the time they're 18. This mass exposure is obviously not beneficial, and in my opinion these media conglomerates, including companies such as Viacom and AOL Time Warner have, in a sense, taken over many teen's lives, becoming dictators of every day in a teen's life. These ads tell one how to dress to be cool, what kind of shampoo to use, and even what soda to drink to achieve the ultimate "cool factor".