Editorial Review:

In 1983, Reese's Pieces made their debut on the silver screen, gobbled up by that lovable alien ET, and sales of the candy shot up instantly by 66 percent. Reebok has sponsored the U.S. Olympic team--and the Russian team, as well! The British Boy Scouts sell space on their merit badges to advertisers.Michael Jacobson, founder of the Washington, D.C.-based watchdog group, Center for the Study of Commercialism (CSC), and Laurie Ann Mazur have produced the book on marketing mania in the United States and the deleterious effects it is having on our ailing culture. Beyond documenting the "unholy alliance" between corporations and Hollywood, the authors take up such disquieting issues as how marketers turn citizens into consumers, the quiet battle between private consumption and social welfare, ads that kill (alcohol and tobacco), the litter of billboards, stealth advertising, corporate interference with public television, the commercialization of Christmas, sex in advertising, marketing in our public schools, and the selling of social issues.This highly readable book interlocks fascinating illustrations with hard statistics and analysis drawn from years of research conducted under the aegis of the CSC. The result is a powerfully revealing book that informs, astounds, enrages, and instructs. It is a primer on the social ills of commercialism gone rampant, a call to action for all concerned citizens. As the authors contend, this book "documents the problem, analyzes its effects, and empowers the reader by offering 'what you can do' suggestions for personal action."

Customer Reviews:

Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0

A Maddening Perspective:

MARKETING MADNESS, the predecessor of Naomi Klein's more recent NO LOGO, is an easy-to-read, entertaining and well-chronicled testament to the growing misinformation and miscommunication about and surrounding human values. The authors decry those marketing and advertising strategies and techniques that attempt to imbed human value systems into the merchandising and selling of products in increasingly ingenuous ways. While it is certainly a sociopolitical manifesto against hyper-commercialism, MARKETING... more info

Outstanding!:

This book is extremely readable and informative. It is a true eye-opener for anyone who is not already a professional in the advertising or marketing fields. I think it will help me to shield myself from the assault that really does exist but to which I was previously blind -- the assault by people intent on getting me (and you) to reach into my pocket or my bank account, take out some money, and give it to them. A great read!

An interesting take on advertising:

Ralph Nader's intro was good. The book assumes that advertising and marketing are all bad. It's up for you to decide.

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