Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Book review: "Ad Nauseam: A Survivor's Guide to American Consumer Culture"

Walt just finished reading Ad Nauseam: A Survivor's Guide to American Consumer Culture, edited by Carrie McLaren and Jason Torchinsky. McLaren and Torchinsky were responsible for the now-defunct Stay Free! magazine. Perhaps I shouldn't say "defunct". The print version has gone, but the blog lives on.

If you went to the blog, you'll see that at the moment it's mostly a serious of plugs for the book. That's OK. The book is well worth reading, unless you're not interested in how we are all victimized and played for suckers by advertisers, marketers and the mass media generally. Here's a quote from the preface.

Consider how consumer culture affects society at large. Nothing is wrong with buying and selling. How else would we secure our morning bagel? The problem starts when the profit motive invades places where it has no business being: schools, courtrooms and hospitals.

The situation is complicated by the fact that advertising has increasingly received First Amendment protection, so that sellers are free to advertise however they like, but you aren't free to get away from it. The result? A society that favors noise and idiocy over logic and quiet contemplation. [My emphasis. Walt.]

Ain't it the truth... You can read more of the preface and find out how to buy the book here. But you should be able to find it in the library. Even Walt's small-town library has it.

Bonus: There are several quizes... quizzes??? OK, there's more than one quiz. See how ad-savvy you are, and have fun. And when you know you're being had -- as in the current "ad wars" between the TV stations and the cable companies -- emulate McLaren and Torchinsky, and holler "BULLSHIT" long and loud!

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