Avid Inkling

Alissa Quart is trying to write a gripping, tell-all book that will uncover the evil corporations attempts to market teenagers.

Over the last decade, there has been an exponential increase in the intensity that manufactures employ to sell their stuff to the young. Today’s teens are victims on the contemporary luxury economy. They have grown up in the age of the brand, bombarded and defined by name products and intrusive and clever advertising strategies.

Please tell us something new. As one of the generation Y, those born between 1979 and 1995 for me, reading Branded, the buying and selling of teenagers is like preaching to the choir.

I can still vividly recall the “must have” brands of the late 90s when I was in highschool: Express, Old Navy, Jansport, Eastpak, Mustang, and Coke.

Every girl wore Express jeans, except me. I couldn’t ever justify how awful their jeans looked on me. One year for “twins day” eight senior girls showed up in navy-blue Old Navy logo shirts (everybody had at least one). You either had a Jansport or an Eastpack for a book bag or you were a no-one, every girl craved a Mustang convertible, and the drink of choice was Coke (or Dr. Pepper, but Coke advertised heavily at the school).

Of course these brands have probably all changed by now.

Ms. Quart seems increasingly shocked by the companies tactics and the teenage girls that buy into the system. Personally, I’m not all that shocked. Girls can be quite brutal to one another for good reason (and sometimes none at all). So the fashion industry is exploiting young women for their own evil capitalist ends. So it happens. So Ms. Quart isn’t offering any real solutions, she’s just horrified enough by the problem to write a book. So what?

So I would probably be more horrified if I wasn’t in the ambiguous “generation Y” who grew up with it. As it is, I can’t bring myself to be shocked, I’m really not surprised.

What is horrifying is some of the dated examples she uses. Backstreet Boys haven’t been popular in years! Hello! They were fading fast by the time I was in my first few years of highschool (late 90s).

Even the post 9-11 example she uses is a little dated. At the Eliz and I had a discussion about the blatant marketing of patriotism. When places like Claire’s was selling little flags and red white & blue paraphernalia (no where near the 4th of July). Exploiting tragedy and marketing to teenagers… we never came to a conclusion if it was brilliant, evil, or tacky, but we did have several conversations about the issue.

She also broaches the issue of birthday parties for tweens. I used to work at a place that held birthday parties for younger children, and I’ve done a little research into the industry myself (mostly to see what the competition for the place I used to work at was like).

If parents are willing to fork over $20+ per child for a group of 5 year olds, then yes, they are most likely to do the same for a group of teenagers (or go even further). I’m not surprised. Birthday parties are a sort of staus-symbol among the middle-class suburban housewives. If the child becomes accustomed to a huge birthday bash before they enter grade school, of course they’re going to keep wanting bigger, more extravagant things as they age. I don’t blame the marketers for this one, I blame the parents.

After a few shoddy examples of teen marketing in movies, Quart goes on to show examples of marketing in video games. First up, Tony Hawk and Quicksilver I can’t recall the last time I saw a Quicksilver anything (much less Tony Hawk… I guess I’m the wrong demographic). Personally, I see nothing wrong with some well placed products in both movies and video games (especially if something awful happens to them, like the BMWs in Fight Club).

The branding blame continues as Quart uncovers the horrors of the teens applying for college. The parents put them in prep schools, buy test prep and push for the kids to get into top-name schools. Is this supposed to be shocking?

At this point, I skimmed through the rest of the book disgusted. The book was published in 2003, the examples are dated (even for 2003) and nothing is really all that shocking. Is it because I’m of the generation she’s claiming is so branded? I don’t know.

Part of me admires the corporations capabilities to produce nonconformist items and exploit the angst of the teens. Claire’s and The Icing are the same brand, Hot Topic isn’t counterculture, it has a store in the mall, it’s mainstream culture.

Quart provides no answers. Branded echos other books like Fast Food Nation and Pledged. They really really want to shock you, horrify you, and make you question the larger corporate structure.

That is, like, so trendy!