Merchants of Cool: Making a Better Consumer?

One of the discussion questions for after watching PBS's Merchants of Cool asks if the show has made us better consumers.  After some reflection, on both the show itself and my own habits as a consumer, if I were to answer honestly, I'd most likely say no, it hasn't.  The show detailed how advertisers and companies will go cool hunting, find their audiences, and market towards them, and all of this was interesting, and made sense. However, I don't think that it actually changed the way that I think about ads.  Although it gave me more background about how ads are designed, and why we see the types of marketing that we do, most of it didn't surprise me, and wasn't shocking enough for me to change my habits.  I know about how products are placed in shows, and how much of what I see is cool is based on the programming and media that I see on a daily basis. However, this knowledge doesn't really change the way I interact with this media.  For me, ads are a part of life, and I don't really pay them much attention, unless the ad stands out greatly, and is very different from the norm. So this shows that it is very true that I don't really respond to traditional ads.   And while the Frontline show spoke about product placement, and parties for brands as being a new type of advertisement, they don't seem very new to me.  MTV isn't the cool new thing anymore, and the roles of Mooks and Midriffs, while still present, have changed. It would be very interesting to watch a more modern or current remake of this program to see if, and how, things have changed in the advertising industry, especially in connection to teens.  I don't think that I respond to these new ads, but the point of these ads is to make you buy products because you think they're cool, not because of the ads.  So while I don't think I respond to these traditional ads, or the newer techniques of advertising, the buildup of ideas and connotations to the products I see on a daily basis does affect me.