Are They Really Worth It?

Throughout many years of school, I have noticed that appearance matters. Unfortunately, many times people catch themselves stereotyping others and inferring peoples' personalities from how they look or what they wear. Particularly, the way that people dress is an easy way for others to distinguish social statuses. Marketers and companies know this--and that is why certain brands are created to appeal to an impressionable group of people, kids.

Many brands like Diamond Co. are marketed to teenagers who are willing to be different. The need for autonomy is present, as more and more companies are marketing their brands and products to make their consumers feel different, ultimately to make easy money. While the intention for Diamond is to be a skater shirt, many wear this shirt as a status symbol. In order to be "cool," the creator of this product wants the consumers to feel as if they are a step ahead of others by buying their product. By buying Diamond, people believe they can stand out, or be part of a popular clique. As people continue to buy the shirt, it potentially creates a cult mentality that encourages others to fit in with their friends and to buy that product. In the end, I question why spending 30 dollars for a T-Shirt is really worth it.

Diamond is just an example, as they are a brand that clearly has success in marketing their products by virtually portraying a status symbol on their product, which is their brand. Other brands that do this well are Nike and Gatorade, both companies heavily rely on their brand name to attract consumers. The simple logos and slogans speak for themselves, they want others to buy their products because of the success of others (like athletes) that many impressionable teenagers admire.

 I am personally guilty of sporting many pairs of Nike Elite socks when I was in sixth to eighth grade. The reason I wore them was simply because my friends were wearing them-- and wearing them made me feel more cool and athletic, exactly what Nike wanted me to feel. Consumerism for these products by well-known products are evident throughout media and in real life.

After watching Merchants of Cool, I have noticed that lately, fashions are constantly changing and whatever is cool right now, may not be the case in a few years. For example, there are patterns where specific products are extremely popular for a short amount of time. I feel like this tells us a lot about our modern culture. It shows that achieving the concept of "cool," is unattainable, especially if one sees being "cool" is by fitting in or intentionally being different (being a hipster). I believe that the solution is to be aware that undeniably, appearance does matter. However, people should not stress whether they are "cool" by what brands they sport, but other aspects like the content of their character.  

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