Teens as Consumers: A Product Placement Example from Turkey Beris Artan Özoran Abstract The era after World War II was given different names according to different thinkers. Bauman or Lyotard called it postmodern while Giddens referred it at late modern. The list continues with Sennett calling it flexible capitalist or with Baudrillard naming it consumer society. Although different names were given to this era, all of these thinkers focused on visual culture and the difference in consumption practices. Especially after the beginning of the 21st century, one can say that a new era called the visual age filled with symbols and images has started. In addition to that, consumption became more important than production and formed a new consumption reality. In this new era, consumption took place, not on the basis of needs, but meanings and symbols. Consumption was used as a tool for creating identities and status. Also, teenagers have emerged as an important consumer group in this period. By consuming, they were able to create a new identity for themselves. The products, themselves, carry an identity. Mass media is the main reason for the creation of all these different identities. In last 30 years, many studies have been made regarding placement of symbols and meanings, and new methods have been developed. Product placement is one of these techniques used in films and serials. It is an advertisement technique used by companies to subtly promote their products. In this chapter, serials as a form of storytelling were discussed first. Secondly, postmodern consumption and new forms of advertising were examined. Thirdly, the concept of product placement and its execution in serials were analysed. Finally, the product placement in a teenage Turkish serial named Medcezir, the Turkish adaptation of the American teenage serial O.C., was analysed by using content analysis. Key Words: Product placement, consumption, serials and teenagers. ***** 1. Introduction One can say that our lives consist of stories. We grew up with fairy tales which are fictional stories, we tell stories about ourselves or others in buses, at dinner tables every day, while we are waiting in our everyday life. With the development in communication technologies, mass media became an outstanding storyteller. Newspapers, radio, television and internet, tells millions of real or fictional stories every day. TV serials are one of the most important storytellers because it is continuous. These serials are shown either every week or sometimes even every day making the stories more real to us. However, the stories in these serials should