Synopses & Reviews
"One of the best books around for demystifying the deliberately mysterious arts of advertising."--Salon
"Fascinating, entertaining and thought-stimulating."--The New York Times Book Review
"A brisk, authoritative and frightening report on how manufacturers, fundraisers and politicians are attempting to turn the American mind into a kind of catatonic dough that will buy, give or vote at their command--The New Yorker
Originally published in 1957 and now back in print to celebrate its fiftieth anniversary, The Hidden Persuaders is Vance Packard’s pioneering and prescient work revealing how advertisers use psychological methods to tap into our unconscious desires in order to "persuade" us to buy the products they are selling.
A classic examination of how our thoughts and feelings are manipulated by business, media and politicians, The Hidden Persuaders was the first book to expose the hidden world of “motivation research,” the psychological technique that advertisers use to probe our minds in order to control our actions as consumers. Through analysis of products, political campaigns and television programs of the 1950s, Packard shows how the insidious manipulation practices that have come to dominate today’s corporate-driven world began. Featuring an introduction by Mark Crispin Miller, The Hidden Persuaders has sold over one million copies, and forever changed the way we look at the world of advertising.
Vance Packard (1914-1996) was an American journalist, social critic, and best-selling author. Among his other books were The Status Seekers, which described American social stratification and behavior, The Waste Makers, which criticizes planned obsolescence, and The Naked Society, about the threats to privacy posed by new technologies.
Synopsis
This book . . . is about the large-scale efforts being made . . . to channel our unthinking habits, our purchasing decisions, and our thought processes. . . . The result is that many of us are being influenced and manipulated, far more than we realize, in the patterns of our everyday lives."One of the best books around for demystifying the deliberately mysterious arts of advertising."-Salon.com
"Fascinating, entertaining and thought-stimulating."-The New York Times Book Review
Originally published in 1957, and now back in print with a new introduction by Mark Crispin Miller, The Hidden Persuadersis Vance Packard's pioneering work exploring the use of consumer motivational research and other psychological techniques, including subliminal tactics, by advertisers to secretly manipulate mass desire for consumer goods and products.
Chronicling the many methods that advertisers use in their quest to manipulate the thoughts and actions of consumers, The Hidden Persuadersexposes how advertising floods our consciousness with images and symbols, operating as a mind-control operation to get us to buy the products it produces. The book also discusses advertising in politics, predicting the way image and personality would rapidly come to overshadow real issues in the televised age.
Having sold over one million copies in its original printing, The Hidden Persuaderswas the first book to expose how advertising and media attempts to control our thoughts and desires, and is more relevant than ever in today's super-saturated media world.
Vance Packard(1914'"1996) was an American journalist, social critic, and best-selling author.
Synopsis
-One of the best books around for demystifying the deliberately mysterious arts of advertising.---Salon
-Fascinating, entertaining and thought-stimulating.---The New York Times Book Review
-A brisk, authoritative and frightening report on how manufacturers, fundraisers and politicians are attempting to turn the American mind into a kind of catatonic dough that will buy, give or vote at their command--The New Yorker
Originally published in 1957 and now back in print to celebrate its fiftieth anniversary, The Hidden Persuaders is Vance Packard's pioneering and prescient work revealing how advertisers use psychological methods to tap into our unconscious desires in order to -persuade- us to buy the products they are selling.
A classic examination of how our thoughts and feelings are manipulated by business, media and politicians, The Hidden Persuaders was the first book to expose the hidden world of -motivation research, - the psychological technique that advertisers use to probe our minds in order to control our actions as consumers. Through analysis of products, political campaigns and television programs of the 1950s, Packard shows how the insidious manipulation practices that have come to dominate today's corporate-driven world began. Featuring an introduction by Mark Crispin Miller, The Hidden Persuaders has sold over one million copies, and forever changed the way we look at the world of advertising.
Vance Packard (1914-1996) was an American journalist, social critic, and best-selling author. Among his other books were The Status Seekers, which described American social stratification and behavior, The Waste Makers, which criticizes planned obsolescence, and The Naked Society, about the threats to privacy posed by new technologies.
Synopsis
The first book to expose how advertising and media attempts to control our thoughts and desires.
About the Author
Vance Packard (1914 -1996) was an American journalist, social critic, and best-selling author. Among his books were the million-selling Hidden Persuaders, The Status Seekers, which described American social stratification and behavior, The Waste Makers, which criticizes planned obsolescence, and The Naked Society, about the threats to privacy posed by new technologies. Mark Crispin Miller is the author of the best-selling books Cruel and Unusual: Bush/Cheney's New World Order, The Bush Dyslexicon, and Fooled Again: How the Right Stole the 2004 Election and Why They'll Steal the Next One Too. An expert in propaganda and media, he teaches at New York University.