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November 14, 2004 Mainly through advertisement on television, we are trying to be convinced that true happiness can be attained through the purchase of merchandise. John Kavanaugh, S.J�s �Advertising, Consciousness & Culture� brings forth the idea that our goals, passions, and �needs� are sometimes instilled in us through advertising. Each day advertisements tell us we should wear certain clothes or use a certain product if we want (ultimately) love. Our goals �should� be getting our hands on the merchandise so that we can be a little closer to happiness and love, or at least that is what advertisements imply. Models are turned into images associated with a product, and these images affect who will buy a certain product. If a man if shown smoking a certain type of cigarette, men will feel as though they must have that cigarette. Similarly, if a woman is shown wearing boots, women will feel they must have that boot. The people selling us these items, as shown in Frontline�s �The Merchants of Cool,� are fully aware that they image affects who will buy the product. This allows the manufacturer to target a specific group of people, and then they associate the product with their target buyers. Ultimately, in order to better sell a product, companies may change an image associated with a product, not necessarily the product itself. In addition to appealing to our own physical image, companies manipulate our human desires and virtues, and sell them to us. As Kavanaugh points out, colognes are given names such as faith, hope, and love. These colognes are advertised so that it appears we can buy these virtues which so many people cherish, and which can really only be achieved on an intellectual level, not physically through a product. Large companies look to certain groups of people who have the most money to spend, and try to target them. According to �The Merchants of Cool�, teenagers are currently the largest group of people with the most money to spend. One company spokesman even referred to teenagers as, �An empire to conquer.� What more needs to be said after that quote? This shows the very soul of many companies. They do not look at people individually and want to really help each person, rather, they look on a person as part of a large �empire� which the company will make large financial profits off of. Viacom is a corporation which owns a large portion of everything we see. �The Merchants of Cool� specifically highlights MTV Networks, which is one of Viacom�s several large and influential companies. MTV is the ultimate commercial. Everything on it is set up to influence what you buy, where you buy, and why you buy. MTV shows different music videos, many of which are nothing but commercials. This affects what people buy because it sells �good� music, clothes, places to shop, and even different ways of life and how to act.
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