A writer and activist investigates corporate America's inroads into--and alliances with--the cultural underground.
""There's an industry around... read full description
""There's an industry around... read full description
reviews
Jan 06, 2012
Just read an amazing review from bitch magazine which ended like this:
"Parts of Unmarketable may be impenetrable to those unfamiliar with the ways of DIY art and activism, but that's precisely why the book works. Instead of a "don't-always-trust-what-you-see" tome targeted at the masses, Moore talks straight to the artists producing the work, passionately prodding them to think about integrity, ownership, and meaning. In doing so, she's created an authentic work about More...
"Parts of Unmarketable may be impenetrable to those unfamiliar with the ways of DIY art and activism, but that's precisely why the book works. Instead of a "don't-always-trust-what-you-see" tome targeted at the masses, Moore talks straight to the artists producing the work, passionately prodding them to think about integrity, ownership, and meaning. In doing so, she's created an authentic work about More...
8 comments
like
(5 people liked it)
Jan 21, 2008
Kristine
rated it: 
heavy on jargon but never fully and clearly explained. self-congratulatory and offering few alternatives between corporations (bad) and a diy punk underground (utopia). lots of anecdotes and annoying footnotes with useless asides about how the author has donated all of her zines and how she felt about barbie growing up. her "shopdropping" episode at american girls store was written up like it was revolutionary and daring but i would argue that it was inappropriate and lame. i wante
More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Jan 13, 2012
Malcolm
rated it: 
In the messy late capitalist world of advertising, branding, lifestyle politics and the everyday demands of ‘culture’ as a site of political struggles, there is little that is more contentious than the charge of selling out the cause, given the struggle over to ‘the man’. Moore, a leading figure in North American DIY cultural politics and former editor of the deeply missed Punk Planet sets out to explore just what ‘selling out’ might mean to cultural workers in contemporary capitalism. Her appro
More...
Jan 11, 2008
James
rated it: 
The author gave me a few new things to think about but for the most part I think you'll gain more academically from reading the books she cites ( Conquest of Cool for example). What I found the most compelling were her personal accounts of interactions with corporate money/power as an activist and as an artist. These above anything else show how complicated our culture has become in both production and consumption.
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Dec 05, 2008
I can't really rate this book because I have worked with half the corporate shills she discusses. My heart sinks to think upon what deaf ears Moore's argument must be falling - the ideal of integrity seems almost entirely lost in the music industry, and her examples imply that it's the same in the worlds of design, alternative sports, etc. Depressing, but because of what I do, not at all surprising.
A new marketing firm pops up every day. Any suggestion that selling one's creative outp More...
A new marketing firm pops up every day. Any suggestion that selling one's creative outp More...
Nov 17, 2009
chee
rated it:
I saw this book on a shelf at the Lucy Parsons Center and immediately ordered it through my library. This is a subject I'm really interested in - specifically, how counter-culture is marketed back to us by the mainstream.
Unfortunately, I definitely agree with other reviewers who noted that this is a better book for those who aren't already very familiar with the subject. I felt that Moore maybe relied a bit too much on surface-level examples and figures, and didn't really get into t More...
Unfortunately, I definitely agree with other reviewers who noted that this is a better book for those who aren't already very familiar with the subject. I felt that Moore maybe relied a bit too much on surface-level examples and figures, and didn't really get into t More...
Dec 25, 2008
Lauren
rated it:
A *very* interesting book. After reading "Not Buying It, My Year Without Shopping," I was compelled to look into marketing as an important part of our consumer culture. Moore focuses on a particular kind of marketing (that which is viral and often co-opts underground and DIY culture), and I have to admit that by the end, I had become pretty suspicious of everyone and everything around me. She makes a strong case for the idea that at this point, isn't everyone selling something? Mos
More...
Dec 12, 2009
Ray
rated it:
The stories about how marketers make use of "guerrilla" tactics are interesting, but they're not signs of an impending apocalypse. If you agree with the author's assumption that all corporate activity is evil and all independent art and DIY media are pillars of integrity, then this book gets easier to swallow. Unfortunately, that's immature BS.
Successful countercultures grow to become part of the larger culture. The author needs to get over that.
Also, the a More...
Successful countercultures grow to become part of the larger culture. The author needs to get over that.
Also, the a More...
May 03, 2010
Dan
rated it:
Floated in and out of this book. It seemed to be circling an answer to a question I have been curious about for years: how much of the anti-corporate movement culture is authentic, and how much of it is an identity of resistance? Can corporate culture and DiY culture co-exist? This book seems to suggest that as marketing firms co-opt DiY tactics for advertising (zines, crafting, indie music, turning graffiti into "graff-AD-i") - they dilute the DiY culture. This book details some of th
More...
Aug 12, 2008
Splendy
rated it:
Put simply, art is created for the love of the creative act and advertising is created to sell you things you don't need. The two are distinctly different and confusing them is dangerous. I'm paraphrasing, but that's a key message of Unmarketable.
The book goes on to explore the various ways that corporations (Nike, Sony, Lucasfilms, etc.) take a genuine grassroots DIY culture movement and turn it into a marketing vehicle in an attempt to not necessarily to reach the unreachable aud More...
The book goes on to explore the various ways that corporations (Nike, Sony, Lucasfilms, etc.) take a genuine grassroots DIY culture movement and turn it into a marketing vehicle in an attempt to not necessarily to reach the unreachable aud More...
0 comments
like
(2 people liked it)
Oct 03, 2008
Peter
rated it:
I liked this book, but... OK, I think Moore's heart is in the right place, and there is a lot of stuff in the book that is interesting and thought-provoking (some of the material on "stealth marketing" by companies was fascinating and disturbing, and her ideas about how "word of mouth" advertising campaigns erode the value of conversation is going to keep me chewing for a while), but...
Some background. I ran an independent bookstore for a few years in the 90s, an More...
Some background. I ran an independent bookstore for a few years in the 90s, an More...
May 20, 2008
Dawn
rated it:
Advertising is everywhere. It's gone beyond the usual TV ad, billboards, the sides of buses. Now on entire vehicles, digitally inserted into sportscasts, cleverly placed in TV shows and movies. Ads' very ubiquity threatens to make them irrelevant. The old standard, the 30-second TV spot, gets attention only during the Superbowl, if those wringing their hands and wailing about the advent of the DVR are to be believed. In response, ads get put everywhere else, integrated into the modern landscape.
More...
Apr 01, 2008
Steev
rated it:
some of it is old hat to me, the copyright stuff, etc, but it documents some very recent developments in marketing that are extremely disturbing.
If you've already read books like Conquest of Cool, No Logo, Captains of Conciousness, or been reading zines like Stay Free!, this is not going to be a really useful or revelatory book.
Overall, i was a little disappointed because the book doesn't really provide many solutions. there's a chapter at the end called "taking diss More...
If you've already read books like Conquest of Cool, No Logo, Captains of Conciousness, or been reading zines like Stay Free!, this is not going to be a really useful or revelatory book.
Overall, i was a little disappointed because the book doesn't really provide many solutions. there's a chapter at the end called "taking diss More...
Mar 23, 2008
R.John
rated it:
The conceit of a capitalist with "integrity" is one of those straw men, like a "noble savage" or "benevolent monarchy" -- it burns so brightly, and quickly, and it illuminates all sorts of ill-begotten treasures of criticism and intellectual bravado. Ultimately, though, the spoils of such a bonfire provides little more than an easily dispelled mound of ash. In short, the critique, while possibly entertaining, rings contextually hollow and structurally unsound.
More...
More...
Jan 29, 2008
Greg
rated it:
This is a strange book. It's mainly an expose of new advances that corporate marketing has used to exploit DIY and underground markets, which is kind of a silly idea since these markets are traditionally not exactly filled with excess money to spend on products. It shows examples from a wide variety of corporations who have used 'anti-marketing', to help strength their own brands. Basically a lot of this book can be summed up in the cliche that there is no bad press, if you can get mentioned,
More...
Jul 09, 2008
John
rated it:
It would be a gross and offensive over-simplification to suggest that this is a marketing book. Yes, AEM does a great job of showing how corporate interests -in their rush to find new and fresh ways to reach an ever-more jaded pool of consumers- uses and twists the tools of DIY culture... But in doing so she navigates the notoriously sticky concepts of integrity, originality, and keeping-one's-hands-clean in the realm of cultural creativity.
While folks on the wrong side of this issue More...
While folks on the wrong side of this issue More...
Dec 30, 2008
John
rated it: 
I thought I would like this book, but it was just too much of a "cooler-than-thou" feel to the first two chapters. The author seems to have an issue with modern business and relishes her life in the DIY culture that has attracted the attention of new marketing. It's perfect for those who thought No Logo and Adbusters are too centrist. I couldn't get past her moral dilemma at getting a grant for teaching zine workshops and them worrying that it was supported by Starbucks. That this gran
More...
Nov 20, 2010
Brooke
rated it:
As a business marketing student and a supporter of 'indie' arts and culture, I felt torn by this book. While some of the cases and facts presented in the book made me feel bitter towards the ad world, I don't think the entirety of the advertising world is purposefully trying to erode the integrity of the underground.
Jun 02, 2008
Veronica
rated it: 
My review is up at my blog.
A snippet thou:
If you eschew Target to make your own clothes, buy from your local grocery & prefer Bust to Cosmo, would you take $2,000 from Ford to help spread the word about their new electric car? That's the main premise to Unmarketable: Brandalism, Copyfighting, Mocketing and the Erosion of Integrity by Anne Elizabeth Moore, but this is not just a book for the DIY/punk crowds. By giving us case studies on how easily some fairly indy people More...
A snippet thou:
If you eschew Target to make your own clothes, buy from your local grocery & prefer Bust to Cosmo, would you take $2,000 from Ford to help spread the word about their new electric car? That's the main premise to Unmarketable: Brandalism, Copyfighting, Mocketing and the Erosion of Integrity by Anne Elizabeth Moore, but this is not just a book for the DIY/punk crowds. By giving us case studies on how easily some fairly indy people More...
Dec 21, 2008
Ceci
rated it:
I like to read a lot about consumerism, brandalism, counterculture becoming consumer culture, etc. This book is very well written. Even better is has a political bent without being too heavy handed (like Culture Jam).
Nov 29, 2007
John
rated it:
A great idea for a book, but overall, I found this investigation of hip marketing techniques and their destructive effect on the underground quite awkwardly executed and often just plain banal. It has little in the way of valuable insight on the intersection between art, politics, commerce and advertising. It's also full of wild inaccuracies, assumptions and generalizations about the value of the counter-culture in general. Do independent labels have more "integrity" than major corpora
More...
Nov 24, 2009
Francisco
rated it:
This is a great book on copyrights and fair use of creative content. Every artist, musician and writer should read it. Anne Elizabeth Moore should start "The Church of Unmarketable" !
Jul 14, 2009
Tim
rated it:
sanctimonious self-justification & promotion. Summary: The Man erodes integrity with wiles. So bad, I didn't finish.
Dec 02, 2008
Mary Beth
rated it:
This is written by my old buddy Anne, who is a whip, a smarty, a helluva good pie baker, and a very good person. She has some interesting things to say, so I recommend that you read her books/articles/zines. I am reading this one now, and am learning a lot. Thanks Anne!
May 19, 2008
MM
rated it:
Well let's see, add this one to the likes of Thomas Frank and Naomi Klein's journalism. Moore was co-editor of erstwhile publication, Punk Planet, and she's concerned with how consumer culture messes with artistic expression, and integrity in general. Nothing terribly new here and much of the ideas seem oversimplified, but there are some good stories and interesting case studies. And hey, the chapters are short and it's a quick read -- good for keeping in the bathroom for toilet visits. You mi
More...
Mar 01, 2009
Lorna
rated it:
It is alarming just how much influence Corporate America has on even the underground and even spaces that were thought to be ever-so-sacred. It is a call to "take back" the underground culture as a space that must be resistant to corporate influences.
Jul 10, 2008
Torie
rated it:
I am only halfway through this book, but at this point I feel inclined to comment that whoever is copyediting over at the New Press needs to step it up a bit. This one and Heather Rogers' Gone Tomorrow are surprisingly full of spelling and grammatical errors. What, do they just use spell check now? Maybe it's just the librarian speaking, but it seems like these kinds of errors are more common and more commonly overlooked lately. It's not a crime against humanity or anything, but damn, it's annoy
More...
Apr 20, 2009
Shirari
rated it:
This book made me reevaluate my relationship with money and has challenged me to figure out how to make a living while really retaining my integrity as a culture worker. I mean, I've been working on that for years, but the author of this book and the many interesting people she interviewed are helping me see that I could go even farther. Good stuff - and an excellent primer on the punk movement, as well as on street art's evolving relationship with commerce.
Feb 24, 2008
Based on its packaging and concept, I had high hopes for this book. Unfortunately, I didn't find it useful, well-researched, or convincingly argued. A few intriguing ideas are introduced, investigated superficially, and then more or less dismissed--for example, I would've liked to have read more about the idea of satire/parody vs. political activity. Maybe I'll read Naomi Klein's No Logo, which this book references repeatedly.
Oct 14, 2008
Jeffrey
rated it:
Unmarketable is full of facts and anecdotes about various guerilla style marketing campaigns, which would be interesting enough on their own, but it's real strength lies in addressing questions of when and how an artist can sell out in various ways, and doesn't so much judge/preach/decide the what the limits are or should be as much as it provides a framework to get you thinking more deeply about the issues at hand.
