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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Never pay retail again, March 19, 2009
This review is from: Retail Anarchy: A Radical Shopper's Adventures in Consumption (Paperback)
Sam Pocker delivers an easy to read, enlightening, eye opening, and humorous look into the way Americans shop, the experiences all of us have had at one time or another with bad customer service, and an interesting look into what I like to call "hard core" coupon shoppers, of which I would like to consider myself a part of that group. Hard core meaning we dumpster dive for coupons, take road trips across state lines for money making deals, get so much free stuff that we don't know what to do with it and cupboards, closets, drawers, garages and attics start to look like a grocery store threw up in our homes.
This is the first book in a long long time that had me laughing out-loud and forced to read aloud passages that were just too funny to keep to myself to my uninterested husband, who eventually told me to knock it off and go in another room...well guess who ended up going upstairs to watch TV? Him, not me.
In the beginning of the book Sam tells us that the book will read much like a blog, and he is correct. I was a tad bit disappointed in that part, but once I got into the meat of the book, I took it for what it was worth and was able to follow along pretty well and the blog style of writing did not bother me too much in the end.
My only question is why could I not have been one of the lucky unexpected shoppers to find Sam and his fiances shopping carts of Kikkoman teriyaki sauce that was left behind because it was a money maker but no room in the car? Man, my family loves that stuff!
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Delivers on it's promise of making you think about things differently, May 9, 2009
This review is from: Retail Anarchy: A Radical Shopper's Adventures in Consumption (Paperback)
Although I never found myself as angry at the book as Pocker claims a reader will get, it did start off on a sour note for me. As a marketing professional, his sharp criticism of marketing as being this evil entity rubbed me the wrong way and felt lacking in a complete picture. But as I pushed on and got into the rhythm of the book, the missing pieces I was looking for came together - lack of critical thinking, herd mentality, taking in everything at face value, being a passive participant in our own consumerism, general mis-education of our youth that leaves them uninspired and unmotivated... these are all things our society is guilty of. It feeds a vicious cycle that is not just bad for individuals and communities but is bad for our economy and our environment.
Pocker offers his solution to these issues (which may or may not be right for you), and his points are all well taken. and ultimately, he achieves what he tells you is his purpose from the start... to make you think differently about what you buy and how you buy it. I found myself reading the ads on the subway differently, double checking my receipts before leaving stores (only to find that the second time I did so - at Whole Foods - they had rung up two identical items with two different prices - one as marked, and one $0.61 higher!), signing up for a pharmacy frequent shopper card to take advantage of 1/2 price vitamins even though I'm not thru the ones I have now (I'll get there eventually, and they don't go bad anytime soon), and even (gasp) clipping a few coupons. All left me with a sense of empowerment, and, frankly a sense of fun as well.
Yes, sometimes there is an incomplete picture of the entire "value chain" required to get products to you, and sometimes Pocker seems to declare what's a "fair" versus "outrageous" price without much evidence to back it up. But isn't that what sharpening your critical mind is all about? catching those things and thinking through what is right for you and your family - NOT just blindly taking in what everyone (yes, even Pocker) tells you?
Even without being a tree-hugger, how can you deny that our society churns out more useless junk than items that actually improve lives? By shining the spotlight on these bizarre and inane practices by large faceless organizations, Pocker is in his own small way trying to make the world a better place.
And he's doing so in an entertaining way that was a really enjoyable read. Now that, I call value.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This book will have you cutting coupons, reading store ads, and filling your car with pudding, March 21, 2009
This review is from: Retail Anarchy: A Radical Shopper's Adventures in Consumption (Paperback)
Retail Anarchy is an easy read that makes you feel like you are listening to road trip stories over a cup of coffee with the author. I swear I've had some of these same experiences while in college but it didn't involve coupons and pudding.
Sam Pocker makes you laugh when he writes about shoppers/consumers and you soon realize, "Hey, I've done that. Boy that was stupid."
After reading Sam's book, you'll be a more informed shopper that looks at purchasing/consuming from a totally different perspective.
Read Retail Anarchy and find out what NASCAR, a Funkadelic concert, pudding, CVS, Target, and coupons have in common.
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