With the style and irreverence of Vice magazine and the critique of the corporatocracy that made Naomi Klein’s No Logo a gl... read full description
reviews
Apr 06, 2010
Kalyn
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This book is essentially a collection of articles from Stay Free! magazine. The book breaks down America's consumer culture into a few categories and presents articles and stories related to that subject. Some of them are about the history of advertising, some of them are about how advertisers view consumers, and others cover different subjects. The articles present a new way of looking at the consumer culture that we are steeped in every day. The authors don't present many options for comba
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Jan 17, 2010
Joan
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Evidently, American culture is so embedded in us that it causes all kinds of problems for us and we start to believe that what we see on TV and, in the movie theater, and on the computer, is real and dictate our lives like that. One thing I will say that I think has affected me from this culture, is that I tend to think subliminally now. I've analyzed this culture so much (in terms of reading and movies anyway) that I tend to think my way around it and have developed some very real "world
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Jan 04, 2010
John
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Laughable. The book isn't really a guide at all. It is a collection of articles (mostly from Stay Free!) about consumer culture. The book reminds me of the girl screaming "Everything Matters!" in the movie SFW or Winona Ryder's character in Reality Bites. The book rallies against advertising and marketing's hold on the modern word but does so through the same devices and logic of advertising. The book makes some wild claims and never provides supporting information, for example, restau
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Jan 25, 2010
Elizabeth
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An amusing, if somewhat uneven book. Some 'articles' (it reads as a collection of articles, I guess originally from the magazine rather than chapters)are fairly serious, pointing out the evils of consumerism. Some are just frivolous,funny stuff, much like The Onion. The chapter on how 9th graders fail to understand the forces behind advertising is SHOCKING. I recommend getting the book (from the library, of course, so as not to be guilty of consumerism!) and reading just that chapter if you don'
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Aug 04, 2009
Sarah
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A collection of articles on the history and psychology of advertising, this includes a number of reprinted essays from the now-defunct "Stay Free!" magazine as well as new material. This is a lighter look at advertising than some other recent books on the subject and approaches the topic with a healthy dose of humor -- which is exactly what the modern consumer needs to navigate the daily sea of ads.
May 01, 2011
Anita
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Not a bad book but a book with very little new to say. If you read Adbusters, if you know who Kalle Lasn is, if you've ever been to a media criticism website, then you know the content of this book. But if you are new to this sort of study, this book may have some interesting, ground level information.
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Jul 28, 2009
Kate
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Thoroughly enjoyable discussion of advertising and media in U.S. society recommended by the Consumerist blog. The book is a collection of essays, some new, some originally published in Stay Free magazine. Not too heavy on footnotes, but enough to please me in a popular text.
Jan 26, 2012
Dawn
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This is a book about the advertising industry (not community), including its history and the psychology behind advertising. It has quite a few visuals and examples of ads, which make the essays much easier to follow, especially when the progression of ads is being depicted. The format is more like a series of essays than a research book. Sometimes this is a plus, as it allows more topics to be covered. Also, if you find a certain topic boring, it changes within a couple of pages. Unfortunately,
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Aug 01, 2011
This is either a pretty interesting book about advertising and consumer culture, or an elaborate piece of pr propaganda to promote the movie idiocracy. In any case, it's pretty good.
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Aug 27, 2009
jen8998
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A collection of essays from the 'Stay free' magazine (no longer in print). Interesting commentary on today's advertising and its impact on our world.
Feb 22, 2011
Eric
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Hyper-depressing but also funny. I never realized that "channel one" in middle school was all advertising.
Jul 19, 2010
Emily
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An entertaining compilation of articles, essays and interviews on advertising in the US and its effects upon our life and times.
Oct 14, 2010
Maria (Ri)
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This is mostly a great book. It highlights so much of how we have sold out to selling. Sad, really. Overall a fascinating read, but somewhere about 3/4 through, it gets pretty boring and draggy. Thankfully it picks up incredibly well toward the end. I even ended up reading some bits out loud to my hubby and just had to check out zug.com! Would have been 5 stars, but for that draggy bit.
Aug 31, 2009
Martin
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Nov 09, 2009
Noah
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A collection of funny and clever articles from the brilliant Stay Free Magazine. A terrific primer for anyone interested in understanding what's wrong with advertising (and how you're really effected by it, even if you think you aren't).
Mar 08, 2011
Mary Anne
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Enjoyable collection of articles on the evolution of advertising, capitalism and consumerism. Love the multiple choice questions at the end of each chapter with shocking tidbits of corporate nastiness.
Apr 24, 2010
corey
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great for those with short attention spans; not sure i am really the target audience.
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