TV TALKS

Erna Amoah
0556229
TA: Rita T
November 8, 2007

TV Talks- Teenagers: We are what we Buy

It happens every year, especially around back to school and Christmas time: Teenagers go mad for the latest things! It’s inevitable, because you’re constantly bombarded by television ads of the coolest, and newest electronic devices, articles of clothing, and personal items, that if you don’t have you will absolutely die!
Teenagers are the best target market for marketing companies. The average teenager themselves will see about 5,000 different advertisements a day, causing them to indulge in impulsive shopping to get the latest and trendiest things. Television ads have been proven to be one of the most effective marketing tools, especially with teenagers. However, it has not always been beneficial. “Cultural theorists and anthropologists say: social identities and differences, and equalities are legitimated through our cultural consumption. TV ads function as myths and metaphors” (Sevigny-Lecture 13, Nov. 6).
TV ads work to create an illusion of a “Utopia” life (example: “If you don’t have this iPod, you will never be happy.”) Advertising reveals the latest fashions and the new popular novelties on the market. It exhibits perfect individuals wearing the new styles and looking good. However, Dr. Sevigny speaks in Lecture 13 about how the difference between the poor and rich in Canada are projected taste. For example, the purpose of a car is to take a person from destination point A to destination point B. But TV ads will work to advertise BMW as the better, more powerful car, which the rich people will invest in, and the lower class people will settle for the Hyundai model. At the end of the day, a car is a car, and everyone has achieved their ultimate goal of reaching their destination. Because TV ads work to increase the projected tastes in individuals, teenagers make the perfect marketing target group, because of their materialistic values. When they see an ad on TV they see perfection and envy it, and go out to buy the product, in hopes of being one step closer to being “cool”. Kids look into ads to buy into ideas, not necessarily the product. Companies like Apple, H & M, Artizia, and other companies targeted at teens use television as the medium for connecting teens to the idea of popularity and acceptance, and not necessarily the perfection of the product, which teens buy into, and perpetuates stereotypes, endorses conformity, and causes kids to buy into things not necessary in life.

Bibliography
Sevigny, Alex. Communication Studies 1A03 Lecture 13. Tuesday November 6, 2007