Cool Hunting: Teens as Targets

In this section, students will explore the ways in which companies directly target them. It will be the final piece in answering the question: Does advertising influence or reflect teen culture?

Quickwrite:

• Were you able to find ads that correspond to your desires? worksheet_1.pdf
• Discuss

Advertisers hope they can appeal to your desires because they are spending great amounts of resources to reach the teenage demographic. Add demographic to vocabulary list .

• Discuss: Do you think many of your peers will share your desires? How about your values? Why?
• In their groups, students compare their lists in columns one and two.
• In their groups, students develop a thesis statement based on this question: What do teenagers value most?
• Groups share thesis statements � they may write them on tag board and post them around the room.

If I were interested in designing an ad targeting for your demographic, I would have paid a lot of money to have listened in on your previous discussion. I may have even paid you to meet with me in a "focus group." Has anyone ever participated in a focus group? These are groups of everyday teens like yourself who give information about your likes and dislikes so that I may design ads that best appeal to your sensibilities.

• Read: "Sweet 16," Adbusters, June/July 2000
• Discuss: Is anyone in this room not wearing a visible brand?
• Why is it important to us to identify ourselves with brand names? Inevitably, the students will say that these companies or products are "cool." This will segue into a discussion of "cool."
• Optional: Why did your group name itself after the brand name you choose? What makes it cool?