Originally Posted by tore

Because they're popular. It takes no effort to like them. If you turn on the radio, you hear a Coldplay song. It's too simple, not musically challenging. Plus people want to feel like they're unique and interesting and they think liking a band which is embraced by so many casual radio listeners (the musically unexplorative) will make them look like someone who's not particularly interested in exploring music and just like what the masses like.

So I think them being unhip and uncool doesn't have that much to do with their music. Had they made the kind of music they do while remaining under the pop radar and avoiding massive success, people in general probably would've thought they were cooler.