Advertising & Teen's close relationship

                Teens are currently the most studied culture in America. To win their demographic loyalty the companies throughout the world must study what they want and what they think is trendy at that time. To do this most companies use the tactic of a culture spy or also known as a correspondent. This person will search and document teens and their structure in ways that would not be accepted by them if a large organization were to attempt it. They study the 20% of teens who are the trendsetters, and will be able to show the others what is chic. Once they obtain this way of life they present their findings to companies who will then portray it in their advertising.
                MTV is an example of how the media is reflected directly off the culture of teens. They transformed advertising by incorporating it into its actual television programming. MTV launched a commercial concept to show record company’s promotional videos in the form of creative TV programming. They also used set on shows that would portray trend in clothes, to appeal to the viewers as the now trend in fashion and products that they should have.  They learned within the past few years though that they have to continue to change to stay with the demographic culture of teens. They immersed themselves in research to learn what teens really want to hear and see, and then also used those findings to portray their advertising in actual television programming to constantly stay on top of the style.  
                I believe that advertising and teens do share a symbolic relationship, but to stay on top of the fad there is a fine line between research and affecting the lives of those they are studying.  If we are using correspondents to interview and screen kids to see who is normal and in the trend, then who is really deciding what that is? Marketing groups are looking on how to make money and that is understandable but looking at a different side, we don’t need a weatherman to tell us if it is raining outside or not. I believe a lot of advertising and marketing is too close to the demographics they are trying to target. I don’t think we should stop researching how teens live their lives but take an indirect approach about it rather than involving them to the point where they are unaware the feedback of the advertising is and indistinct copy of themselves.