The Merchants of Cool

Investigates the role of the creators and sellers of popular culture, who have made teenagers the hottest consumer demographic in the United States. Among the questions posed and examined by this documentary: Are these marketers merely reflecting a growing coarseness in teen culture, or have they helped create it? Are they simply responding to teen desires or have they begun to manufacture those desires in a bid to secure this lucrative market? And have they gone too far in their attempts to reach the hearts -- and wallets -- of America's youth?