The Fragility of Teen Trends

In the PBS documentary "The Merchants of Cool," Sprite was brought up. Apparently, the soda industry is very competitive and Sprite was struggling to attract new customers. So in an attempt to lure in America's biggest consumers—teenagers—Sprite incorporated a number of new marketing techniques in their campaigns. These included "anti-advertising," getting celebrities or athletes to promote the soda, and incorporating hip hop music into their commercials and events. A spokesperson for Sprite in the documentary said that through their campaign, Sprite and hip hop music have become heavily linked. She also goes on to say that the Sprite brand has become "iconic" and that it has become the latest "cool" product for teens to buy.

This confused me for several reasons. First, I don't really understand how a soda brand or drinking a certain soda can be "cool." I can understand thinking certain shoes or clothes are cool, but I don't really get how a soda can be cool. Second, I have never heard anybody call Sprite iconic. It's popular, sure, but I don't really think it's much different than any other sodas on the market right now, as far as marketing or style or anything like that. The fact that Sprite was seen as so cool and desirable back in the early 2000s (when "The Merchants of Cool" was made) shows how quickly trends fade among teens. Nobody really cares about Sprite in particular anymore. And I wouldn't say the typical teen pays too much attention to a soda company's marketing strategy or aesthetic. They probably just buy whatever soda they think tastes the best. If a soda had a cool marketing campaign, but tasted bad, I still probably wouldn't want to drink it. Companies catering towards teen have to work really hard to attract their consumer, as their attention spans don't last long.