Customer Reviews

Branded for Life: How Americans are Brainwashed by the Brands We Love

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Howard J. Blumenthal tries real hard to make this book look like an academic work. Each chapter ends with end notes, and is full of numbers. Sadly that is as far as it goes. Most of the chapters are based on someone Else's work which the author freely admits. One end note reads, "Much of this information, and much of my inspiration for my further research and calculations, come from..... The problem is that everything he cites supports his theory his idea there is no counter argument. The reader is never given any alternative information so they can decide for themselves if they agree with Mr. Blumenthal. In some cases the "facts" given are not even end-noted leaving the reader to wonder where the author got his statistics. In other cases it is stated that numerous sources have confirmed this yet we are only given one actually source.

The book comes across as paranoid at times as we are told that the corporations control everything and every aspect of our lives and have brainwashed us to buy into their false reality. Yet the author then promotes very specific New York local brands in the chapter entitled We are What we Eat he no less than three times declares one should spend the extra money and go to this New York establishment. In one chapter Mr. Blumenthal decries credit cards while telling his readers how he, and his wife decided their college age son had to have one even though they are so evil.

Personal opinions abound set off by exclamation points. The sad thing is the book has great potential it really does and the numbers and statistics are interesting. Unfortunately if you are like me you will probably become more upset the more you read because the bias becomes more blatant with each passing chapter. It is worth a read but I would not recommend buying it instead get it from the library.