ISBN-10: 0865479879 | ISBN-13: 978-0865479876 | Publication Date: June 23, 2009 | Edition: First Edition
With the style and irreverence of Vice magazine and the critique of the corporatocracy that made Naomi Klein’s No Logo a global hit, the cult magazine Stay Free!—long considered the Adbusters of the United States—is finally offering a compendium of new and previously published material on the impact of consumer culture on our lives. The book questions, in the broadest sense, what happens to human beings when their brains are constantly assaulted by advertising and corporate messages. Most people assert that advertising is easily ignored and doesn’t have any effect on them or their decision making, but Ad Nauseam shows that consumer pop culture does take its toll.
In an engaging, accessible, and graphically appealing style, Carrie McLaren and Jason Torchinsky (as well as contributors such as David Cross, The Onion’s Joe Garden, The New York Times’s Julie Scelfo, and others) discuss everything from why the TV program CSI affects jury selection, to the methods by which market researchers stalk shoppers, to how advertising strategy is like dog training. The result is an entertaining and eye-opening account of the many ways consumer culture continues to pervade and transform American life.
“In his opening salvo in the mental war against the paradoxes of late capitalism, George W. S. Trow proposed a motto: ‘Wounded by the Million; Healed—One by One.’ What the editors of Stay Free! set up inside the brilliant framework of their magazine is an arena where writers can roll up their sleeves and get cheerfully to work at shrugging off the succubus of commercial culture—for their own sakes, and for all our sakes. This book is a treasury of Trow’s kind of healing.” —Jonathan Lethem, author of The Fortress of Solitude
“There’s no better way for you to avoid the pitfalls of our sinister consumer culture than by buying this book. Purchase it now. And make sure to browse the store’s wide selection of novelty bookmarks.” —Patton Oswalt, actor and comedian
“Equal parts damning and delightful, Ad Nauseam is a guide for every shell-shocked consumer besieged by American commodity culture, a battleground where the greatest danger is thinking you're smarter than an ad.” —Ben Popken, Consumerist.com
“As a longtime critic of advertising and a great fan of Carrie McLaren's and of Stay Free!, I welcome this collection of smart and sassy, illuminating and entertaining essays. This book is a must for anyone concerned about the increasingly pervasive and pernicious impact of the consumer culture on our lives and our world.” —Jean Kilbourne, creator of the "Killing Us Softly: Advertising's Image of Women" film series
“The book will appeal to readers with an ironic sense of humor or a general suspicion of consumerism as well as those who enjoy keeping track of popular culture.”—Elizabeth L. Winter, Georgia Institute of Technology, Library Journal Reviews
“Entertaining and informative … If you want to convince your dog to love your iPod, this is the book for you.”—Book Calendar Review
“Several pieces … delve into less familiar territory, and in these passages, the book’s themes garner real heft. … While I was reading it, and for a time after I was finished, I found myself questioning everything. … Ad Nauseum broke through the haze built up over years of media consumption.”—Carolyn Juris, Bookslut
About the Author
Carrie McLaren founded Stay Free! in 1993. A longtime blogger, she speaks regularly on the topic of advertising and media. Jason Torchinsky is a writer and illustrator based in Los Angeles, who currently writes for the Onion News Network.
Product Details
Paperback: 368 pages
Publisher: Faber & Faber; First Edition edition (June 23, 2009)
This review is from: Ad Nauseam: A Survivor's Guide to American Consumer Culture (Paperback)
I think it would actually be a lot more interesting talking to the authors than reading their book, which is mainly a collection of short essays on a variety of advertising topics. Many of them are quite funny, like a marketing party for scotch at the Playboy mansion, a review of ad mascots through the years, and renaming SUVs to name a few. However, there isn't a lot of deep criticism of the damage of advertising in American culture. The book reads like a very well researched college paper, but don't expect to find a wealth of new theories on how advertising works, or how to avoid its traps.
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This review is from: Ad Nauseam: A Survivor's Guide to American Consumer Culture (Paperback)
While I have not been a reader of StayFree Magazine, I picked up this book as a potential candidate for my bookclub to read. By the end of it, I was enlightened as to how I and certainly millions of others have been brainwashed by the advertising industry. I wanted to cry out "how stupid I have been!" I am in my 60s and have been subjected to advertising since TV first became available, well before "I could read a magazine." I have a collection of old Life magazines my in-laws had collected back to 1939. It was very interesting to look back at old ads and see the progression to the "harder subliminal sell" of this century. I think "Ad Nauseum" by Carrie McLaren noted this very same progression with a keen and studied approach. I fear for the children of the last few decades as to how their little brains are so completely controlled by the "next must have toy or article of clothing." We have pretty much all experienced seeing a child in almost any store throwing a tantrum to have mommy or daddy buy something the child has seen advertised or that every other friend has. Though my children are grown into their 30's now, I still see their minds being controlled by the latest must have electronic devices and clothing. Ms. McLaren has put forth a very interesting and provocative subject of which most of us have been totally unaware.
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This review is from: Ad Nauseam: A Survivor's Guide to American Consumer Culture (Paperback)
I was required to read this book for a class and I found it to be informative yet playful. Ad Nauseam opens your eyes to aspects of advertising that you don't often think about while using humor to keep your attention. I also like the layout of the book. It's full of images of ridiculous ads and humorous mini quizzes. Not much was said in the postscript on how the problems with advertising can be changed, but overall I think it is very insightful especially for a high school student or college freshman. The book contains some important general information such as some of the history of advertising, subliminal advertising, and the psychology behind advertising. It then includes entertaining short chapters to help illustrate the bigger view and to poke fun at advertising. It is a simple read but I can appreciate that. The authors want the readers to have fun with this book but at the same time learn a thing or too about this crazy world that we live in. The goal of the book is awareness which it does successfully.
I have never posted a review on here, but I feel like I have to for this book because it's that awesome. Read it!
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