The Hidden Persuaders by Vance Packard- Book Review
Posted by Blair · 3 Comments
The Hidden Persuaders by Vance Packard is a must read for anyone in the advertising industry……for those of you not in the “industry” you might find it down right disturbing!! lol
I was fortunate enough to find out of it’s existence while watching The Century of the Self on Google Video. The Century of the Self is an awesome 4 part series that I will be featuring on my blog…..if you want to learn the about the birth of adverting this is a MUST see!!
As I do with all my book reviews is share with you some excerpts that I found quite interesting. As you read these excerpts please keep in mind the book was first published in 1957.
The Hidden Persuaders introduces us to Motivational Research (M.R.) or also known as Motivational Analysts. So what is Motivational Research?
Louis Cheskin the head of a Chicago research firm who’s clients include many of America’s leading producers of consumer goods describes M.R. like this:
“Motivation Research is the type of research that seeks to learn what motivates people in making choices. It employs techniques designed to reach the unconscious or subconscious mind because preferences generally are determined by factors of which the individual is not conscious…….Actually in the buying situation the consumer generally acts emotionally and compulsively, unconsciously reacting to the images and designs which in the subconscious are associated with the product.”
“The business man’s hunt for sales boosters is leading him into a strange wilderness: the subconscious mind.”- Wall Street Journal, page 1
“The stuff with which we work is the fabric of men’s minds.”- President of the Public Relations Society of America
In 1955, $9,000,000,000 was poured into United States advertising, up a billion from 1954 and up three billion from 1950. For each man, woman, and child in America in 1955 roughly $53 was spent to persuade him or her to buy products of industry.
“Infatuation with one’s own body is an infantile trait that…….persists in many an adults subconscious…….The ethics of exploiting it……..to sell goods……..are something else.”- Fortune
This excerpt is quite interesting that Marlboro used temporary tattoo’s and targeted it towards their male consumers. Marlboro did an ad campaign in which all the “rugged” men show (cowpokes, fishermen, skiers and even writers) all had one thing in common…..tattoo’s on the back of their hand.
The Marlboro people in fact became so pleased with this symbol of virility that they began distributing millions of transfer pictures of tattoos that men could stamp on their wrists just as children have long done.
On May 18, 1956, The New York Times printed a remarkable interview with a young man named Gerald Stahl, executive vice-president of The Package Design Council . He stated: “Psychiatrists say that people have so much to choose from that they want help-they will like the package that hypnotizes them into picking it.” He urged food packers to put more hypnosis into their package designing, so that the housewife will stick out her hand for it rather than one of many rivals. *** I like this part***…….so a package design should hypnotize the woman like a flashlight waved in front of her eyes. Some colors such as red and yellow are helpful in creating hypnotic effect.
A show can be not only too suspenseful but to funny for its own good. That at least was the sad conclusion of the Philip Morris people, who poured millions of dollars into their top-rated comedy show I Love Lucy. While Lucy became the most popular show on television, Philip Morris sales lagged behind and in fact dropped 17 per cent. Tide magazine reported, “There are those at Philip Morris………who subscribe to the idea that an extremely good show might never sell products. Reason: you tend to talk about the program during the commercials……..
Clyde Miller, in his The Process of Persuasion, explained the problem of conditioning the reflexes of children by saying, “It takes time, yes, but if you expect to be in business for any length of time, think of what it can mean to your firm in profits if you can condition a million or ten million children who will grow up into adults trained to buy your products as soldiers are trained to advance when they hear the trigger words ‘forward march.’ “
“The public is enormously gullible at times.”- The Public Relations Journal
Edward Bernays points out: “Newsworthy events involving people usually do not happen by accident. They are planned deliberately to accomplish a purpose, to influence ideas and actions.”
I’ve read Vance Packards’ book The Hidden Persuaders three times already. Each time I notice myself “tagging” another excerpt that I personally find interesting……
The Hidden Persuaders is definitely a revolutionary look into the adverting industry. I’m sure this book has been, and will continue to be a great resource to people in the ad industry. They’re is no doubt in my mind…….. this book will continue to SHOCK any consumer who gets their hands on it!! lol But…… in today’s world, with the use of Neuromarketing and fMRI’s the techniques used in this book are; …..can we say….normal???
Hope you enjoyed the excerpts I chose, I recommend buying a copy of The Hidden Persuaders and PLEASE feel FREE to leave a comment I’d love to hear from you!
Till next time….
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