Read this article!

          After reading Darren Crovitz’s article entitled, “Scrutinizing the Cybersell: Teen-Targeted Web Sites as Texts,” many questions come to my mind about various marketing ads and the influence they have on children, teens, and adults alike. Most media and marketing is geared towards the younger audiences. The teenagers are perhaps the most influence by these marketing campaigns so they can “fit in” and eat the coolest snacks on the market. As a twenty-year-old senior at Kennesaw State University, I feel like I too have been affected by the persuasive “teen-gaged” Cybersell web sites and television ads. I admit that I have bought a certain brand of soft-drink in which I “did the Dew” because they had a fabulous commercial with a catchy song. Sad but true.

            As a “teen-target,” I have made multiple buying decisions based on a company’s web-site appeal to me. One of the main examples about teen-target websites and media ads used in Crovitz’s article reflects the Slim Jim Company. Slim Jim is apparently targeting the hyper-masculine teen audience in which the more times you “snap” a Slim Jim, the cooler and sexier you are. By appealing to their ethos, pathos, and logos, teens are inevitably going to be persuaded to buy a certain product or be seen wearing a certain brand of clothing. Crovitz writes, “Slim Jim is doing more than selling snacks in a funny way; it’s also reinforcing a narrow definition of manhood characterized by stereotypes and silly, if not risky, behavior.” This just goes to show, at a closer look, Cybersell can be harmful to our teenage population.

            Because “nothing is an accident in this text” we can only look at the marketing techniques and pray that our teens won’t be influenced. What else can we do? Stand over our children’s shoulders while they are surfing the net. Block the Doritos’ Web site? No, “we can help students measure and weigh the ramifications of this [textual influence on a targeted audience] even as they are creating texts of their own.” Hopefully, the next time you watch TV or visit a Web site, you’ll think twice about the marketing techniques geared towards adults and teens alike.

Advertisement