Lead Us Into Temptation: The Triumph of American Materialism

Had to read this one as an undergrad... & I still read it regularly for fun! How many books can you say this of? Twitchell really cuts to the core of material psychology, branding, and then comparing these cultural phenomena to past Human indentifications: tribal, family, religious, etc. Result? Putting meaning in things is SO much more fun! In one terrific section (and my favorite) Twitchell attacks the idea of "zombie TV watching" with a simple observation: When he watches TV he finds it to be an incredibly ACTIVE thinking process. Constantly changing channels, actively CHOOSING different paths, & never settling on one thing for too long (sound familiar?). Add TiVo, and who's really in control? The branders? The giant corporations? Some advertising elites in a smoke-filled room? Answer: YOU.

An interesting read about the invasive consumerism of the 20th century. His basic take is we buy what we want, it isn't foisted on us by advertsing. All that you see on TV is an ad, including the "news", the sitcom set, ie house, clothes, pots, pans, lamps and has been since the beginning of TV. And that "Democracy" is the freedom to buy what you want when you want it.He makes a good case that this has been what people "really" want since time imortal. And that no amount of whining about how it isn't good for you can compete with the almighty dollar. Simply put, if you really didn't want it, you wouldn't buy it.I do agree that he can get long winded in his arguments.Anyone looking to start up another .com company would do well to read this first.

I first must take issue with a previous review. There is nothing remotely complex about the language Twitchell uses - certainly nothing that would require anyone with a basic vocabulary to need a dictionary. On the contrary, I found that Twitchell is often quite amusing and there were even times I laughed out loud at his astute observations and the entertaining way he presents them. Having said that, I did find one thing slightly irritating - the use of extensive footnotes that could easily have been included in the text without forcing the reader to jump around. Still, that doesn't detract from the important ideas Twitchell presents. You will never look at the world (and particularly the world of adverised products) the same way after reading this. This book, however, goes far beyond merely addressing products and how they are advertised. It addresses the psychology of "meaning" that is fundamental to how each of us construct our innner and outer world. It was given to me as a gift by a friend. I intend to buy several copies and give them to my own friends. I highly recommend it to anyone even if they are not interested in advertising per se. After reading "Lead us Into Temptation" they will be.

Based on the rejection of the "hypodermic" theory of advertising, the idea that we are not hapless victims is something most students of media will here about. Propaganda is not as powerful as we believe, but our own desire to buy is very powerful. His views on the negativity of our consumerism are what make him and his work so different.