The Hidden Persuaders

I really enjoyed this book. You will be left with your jaw dropped. A great read for those interested in the contraversy of Marketing.

Most of us realize that we are being influenced all the time. What most of us don't realize is just how much we are controlled and influenced. The Hidden Persuaders will describe to you the early efforts made to understand, control and influence people in the name of consumerism and control. This book should scare you, especially when you stop and think about how much more refined the methods are today. A key point made by the book is the primary difference between manipulation and persuasion is intent. Even the most cursory look at history will tell you that when the tools exist, someone will use them to dominate and control others. In fact, they are being used right now and everyday to control us. The Matrix is alive and well and real. Read this book.

Written at the cusp of the 'consumer revolution', this book is both a quaint historical piece and a prophesy of what was to come. The tangential thesis of the book is that by the mid-fifties, the standard problems in capitalism -- those of production and distribution of goods -- were solved, but that this introduced another problem: all of these goods must be consumed. So, it became necessary to step up the techniques used to market these goods.Advertising was nothing new, but the psychological intricacy and sophistication in it was ratcheted up significantly. Using Freud, Jung, and whatever other foundation proved workable, social scientists and psychoanalysts honed their skills to develop an ever-growing repertoire of tricks that would induce us all to spend and consume at ever-higher levels.Two things make the book relevant today: 1) nothing has changed either in the economic situation or in the techniques, except that both have become even more intense (two thirds of the 2002 U.S. GNP depends on consumer spending); and 2) no other book has yet come forward to do a better job at showing, in great anecdotal detail and for a broad audience, what depth marketing is all about.

It is hard to believe that one of the most perceptive and important books on the shaping of modern society is out of print. This book shows how the workings of our minds have been scientifically evaluated, and this knowledged used to manipulate them. Not in any 'X-Files' manner, just straight out appealing to our basic desires and needs. Read this book, and then as yourself what every ad and salesperson is doing to you when you see them. It's all there, so they aren't hard to work out.

The Hidden Persuaders explores the dark world of advertising and the effects it has upon our minds. Even though it was written originally in 1957, most of its material is still relevant today. At first, one may be lead to the conclusion Vance Packard has gone off the far end with his accusations of subliminal mind control, but he provides so much factual data you finally come to realize this isn't any joking matter. Everyone should read this book, at least to become familiar with its theme, and to increase personal awareness of the underlying messages our minds are exposed to every day. Packard will help you understand virtually hundreds of ways corporations get you to give away your hard earned money readily. He explains not only how companies make you tick, but why they make you tick. After reading the book, you will never watch another commercial or listen to another advertisement the same.