In Alissa Quart’s book “Branded", she argues that teenagers of generation Y are easily influenced. Those influences include: magazines, movies, books, catalogs, parents, friends, and the internet. Since teenagers are so easily influenced, corporations advertise to attract which has the affect of people under twenty-five having the highest credit card debt. The author uses evidence such as: statistics, anecdotes, and interviews teenagers. Corporations are using teens for advice on how to advertise their product in order to appeal to other teenagers. These teen are called trend spotters. Magazines are also putting out surveys to use as tips to better their ads. Kids are being used as marketing tools. Teens are so caught up with brands that they view them like celebrities and also fail to see these corporations are using them for sales. If you’re not wearing certain brands your not considered “cool”; that is the mindset of teenagers of this society and time. Usually it’s the “not so pretty” or “not so thin” girls who try to stock up on the brands to feel accepted. Parents are also obsessed with brands and often shop at the same stores as their children. The author’s intent is to let it be known how corrupt the teenage mind is and hopefully finds a solution to help teens realize what is more important. Quart seems to have a teenage audience in mind but she also speaking to the parents and CEO of these corporations.
Vocabulary:
· Exacerbated (pg. 14)- annoyed
· Deputized (pg. 20) – appoint as deputy
· Weaned (pg. 21)- withdraw from a certain habit
Tone:
· serious
· informing
Rhetorical Terms:
· Rhetorical Question- “What do the advertising images of teens, breasts augmented and abs bared, do to teenagers?” (pg.13)
· Simile- “Top brands are like stars,” (pg.20)
Discussion Questions:
· Clarification- Why do you think the author refers to girl teenagers as oppose to the boys in generation Y? Do you think girls are more caught up in materialistic things? Why or why not?
· Application- Does what the author writes reflect you in any way? If yes, how?
Quotation:
“These youth marketers aim to sell their products. And they do so even if it means playing on kids’ fears of being social outcasts or physically unappealing.” (pg. 10)
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Clarification
ReplyDeleteI guess she refers to girls more because they are more materialistic. Girls care more about wearing better clothes and brand names than guys, in my opinion i think guys are in a way more easy going. That's why she did not really target them.
Application
In a way it does because i see all around me that people are always trying to wear a certain type of brand and like she said as soon as one person wears it then everybody wants to wear the same thing. In another way it does not because I am not that into having brand names like the teens she talk about in her book.
Clarification:
ReplyDeleteI think the author refers to girls more so than boys because I personally think this subject pertains more to girls.In society girls have more pressure of a certain image to portray and this affects their ability to survive more so than boys.I do think girls are more materialistic than the opposite sex because of what our society portrays as a well off female.
Application:
What the author says does reflect me in my daily life because I am a female and I live in this society everyday. I have to keep up with what's new or I fail in this society, I won't be sucessful.But then again I perfer to be my own person and not be a follower.