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4th out of 17 books
—
6 voters
From Those Wonderful Folks Who Gave You Pearl Harbor
From the back cover: "I refuse to apologize for telling the truth about advertising, and if it offended some people, that's just too bad. If I had wanted to be loved by those people I would have joined the Peace Corps." Jerry Della Femina said that. He also said: "Advertising is the most fun you can have with your clothes on." And the critics agree!
Published
(first published July 20th 2010)
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This was fascinating, but not really suited to sitting down to read it - it felt repetitive after awhile. Most of it felt pretty modern, but then every now and then something despicably 1970s sexist/racist/etc would pop up and it was pretty jarring. I'm surprised some of it didn't get edited out by the author or editor for the re-release a year or two ago.
Still, parts of it were very interesting. Like the TV censors and how they couldn't even show belly buttons - it was even harder to market fe...more
Still, parts of it were very interesting. Like the TV censors and how they couldn't even show belly buttons - it was even harder to market fe...more
I want to read Mary Wells' biography, A Big Life in Advertising after reading this book. Della Femina grudgingly admires her work in these pages and given his general attitude to women it would be well worth seeing the era through her eyes. The most interesting section for me in this book was on the strict censorship that governed the times so that not even a "belly button" could be shown in an ad, making "feminine hygiene" products quite a challenge to market. For those people interested in the...more
Jun 02, 2011
William Apriando
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
biography,
advertising
About the writer: Jerry Della Femina is one of the old school of Madison Avenue ad men who defined American Advertising during its golden age of the 1960s. This book apparently the inspiration behind the TV show ‘Mad Men’ and straight out of the block, Della Femina’s writing hits you like the kick from a three Martini lunch.
As someone that grew up in creative industry, I have to admit and believe that this book is exposing the hate and love of surreal world of advertising, and not even one piece...more
As someone that grew up in creative industry, I have to admit and believe that this book is exposing the hate and love of surreal world of advertising, and not even one piece...more
Jul 31, 2010
Keirstan
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
non-fiction,
american
As a Mad Men fan, Jerry Della Femina's 1970 memoir of his life as an ad man feels like a look behind the scenes of the show. Told in Della Femina's casual, but sagely knowing personal tone, FORM THOSE WONDERFUL FOLKS gives the reader the true story behind the advertising boom in the 1960s. Admittedly there were "three martini lunches," hanky-panky on company time, and wheeling and dealing in smoke filled rooms, but Della Femina reminds us that at the same time, a uniquely creative profession was...more
A propaganda nas décadas de 60 e 70 era permeada de muito improviso e enganação (não que hoje não tenha mais), o que contribuiu para a construção de uma certa aura no negócio publicitário. Jerry Della Femina conta um pouco dos bastidores de várias agências da Madison Avenue, o endereço das maiores agências da época, dando detalhes das diversas campanhas que marcaram a história: Think Small e We Try Harder, por exemplo. Além disso, o autor aponta para onde, na época, deviam ir as agências e os pu...more
Back in college I picked this up off my friend's coffee table and was immediately sucked in by the bizarre goings on of the ad world. I had no interest in pursuing it as a career, but it was such a well told laugh at an industry I'd never know.
After the internet came about I'd occasionally search for a copy but never found even a trace of it till yesterday. If I watched Mad Men, I probably would have realized this book was one of the show's sources of inspiration.
I'll be more than happy to rerea...more
After the internet came about I'd occasionally search for a copy but never found even a trace of it till yesterday. If I watched Mad Men, I probably would have realized this book was one of the show's sources of inspiration.
I'll be more than happy to rerea...more
The rough basis for the TV show "Mad Men." If you are a fan of the television show, you'll get a kick out of this book.
This guy is such a guy who writes like how you would imagine such a guy would write, in fact he writes like hell, hell, and what he writes about sounds like hell, or a hell of a job, or a job for a nut, or a nutjob, where you're selling people things they don't need for money they don't have and making a hell of a lot of money before they go to hell, you got a problem, go to hell! Or at least another agency because there's a guy on the inside track for an outside crack at an account for an amoun...more
Oct 24, 2011
Jessica Bustard
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Jessica by:
Terry O'Reilly
I was really excited about reading this book. I’ve been a long time fan of the CBC radio show Age of Persuasion and its host Terry O’Reilly, on a recent episode Terry recommended some marketing books he really enjoyed, one of which was From Those Wonderful Folks Who Gave You Pearl Harbour by Jerry Della Femina. Terry’s synopsis and funny story, which lead to the oddball title of the book, convinced me to read it. Unfortunately when I read it I was pretty disappointed.
While I have no doubt that M...more
While I have no doubt that M...more
I read this book back when it first came out in the 70's. I loved it then and I loved again. It is a look at the advertising business on Madison Ave in New York in the 50 & 60's. I was a neophyte in the broadcast business when I first read it. I was working in the advertising business. I had great empathy for the creative types because I understood what they were going through. We had many of the same challenges in radio. It was just economies of scale. This book looks into the mindset and h...more
AHHH. First some backstory: This book came out of nowhere for me, greeting me under the Christmas tree a couple weeks ago. It was a bit of a "Mad Men" reference, having been meta-disparaged by Roger Sterling in season 3. The book itself isn't actually mentioned in the show, as it takes place about 7 years before the publication of "From Those Wonderful Folks..." but the spirit of the book, that of a straightforward, de-glamorizing tell-all of the advertising industry, is looked down upon.
And it'...more
And it'...more
Entertaining. I listened on audiobook, and the reader did a great job. I wish somebody would write a modern day version of this book -- as it is, most of the brands and campaigns mentioned were probably done before I was born.
There was a 30-minute segment in the middle where the author is picking on beer drinkers. Just making fun of people who drink beer. It was kind of mean, and entirely random. He's offensive in lots of other ways too, of course, but he really hates beer.
There was a 30-minute segment in the middle where the author is picking on beer drinkers. Just making fun of people who drink beer. It was kind of mean, and entirely random. He's offensive in lots of other ways too, of course, but he really hates beer.
One of the most casually, arrogantly, conceitedly, obnoxious books I've ever read. The authors disdain and contempt for all things not in and of New York City is elitist, paternalistic, and borderline racist. Ogilvy he is not. This is a businessman's "Ball Four" minus the popular characters and entertaining stories. Aside from nostalgia, it offers no value other than as a cautionary tale against hiring Ad men from New York.
I debated giving it 3 or 4 stars but ultimately decided on 4. It was a fun read and gave a realistic glimpse into the world of advertising in the 1960s, including the "glamorous" and "not-so-glamorous" sides of it. Some of the stories were a bit repetitive but I enjoyed the overall tone of it because it felt like Della Femina was talking directly to the reader. It transported the reader back into this era of big business and advertising that you just don't see nowadays.
I first heard about, From Those Wonderful Folks Who Gave You Pearl Harbor by Jerry Della Femina, reading capsule reviews of Mad Men. And it would seem that some of Femina's stories were influential in certain story lines if not in spirit generally speaking. I found his informal writing style was akin to his speaking style a bit tedious by the end of the book, but it does give you a sense of who this character is complete with outdated lingo. I'm sure that Matt Weiner mined several sources for in...more
I devoured the first few chapters, but then the book started to feel like one of those conversations with someone at a bar that starts of really promising but next thing you know, you are trapped listening to the increasingly drunken rambles of a first-class, full of hot air a-hole and just can't break away and there is no one and no fire-alarm to rescue you.
I can see how this book was useful to the creators of Mad Men in understanding the culture of Madison Avenue advertising in the 1960s and 1...more
I can see how this book was useful to the creators of Mad Men in understanding the culture of Madison Avenue advertising in the 1960s and 1...more
A worldwide bestseller when first published in 1970, this is the story of what Madison Avenue was really like in the 1960s.
Listen to From Those Wonderful Folks Who Gave You Pearl Harbor on your smartphone, notebook or desktop computer.
Listen to From Those Wonderful Folks Who Gave You Pearl Harbor on your smartphone, notebook or desktop computer.
This book was written in 1970 by a guy in advertising about working in advertising in the 60's. There were some interesting "Mad Men" type stories, and I also enjoyed stories of trying to please censors...but overall the book was very up and down for me. Some parts I really enjoyed and other parts I didn't care about at all.
The crazy world of sixties advertising, depicted by a man who was there. An obvious influence on "Mad Men," this book tells some behind-the-scenes secrets of advertising. It's a little repetitive, though, and lacks an abundance of stories behind specific ad campaigns.
Decided not to finish this after all...it is just not worth it.
If you watch Mad Men and are trying to imagine the memoir Sterling is writing, booyah - this is it. It is one random advertising story after another interwoven with drunken escapades and loads of gossip. The big difference is Femina worked his way up in the business.
It is not well written, is disjointed and has all the bigotry, sexism and homophobic views the guys in advertising had in the 1950's. If I didn't have a stint at an age...more
If you watch Mad Men and are trying to imagine the memoir Sterling is writing, booyah - this is it. It is one random advertising story after another interwoven with drunken escapades and loads of gossip. The big difference is Femina worked his way up in the business.
It is not well written, is disjointed and has all the bigotry, sexism and homophobic views the guys in advertising had in the 1950's. If I didn't have a stint at an age...more
This is the book that Mad Men is based on, one of my favorite shows. But the stories got tedious and confusing, with a lot of name-dropping of as agencies in the 60s.
I enjoyed this book. I would have enjoyed it even more had Mr. Femina not told most of the interesting/funny parts during his interview with Don Imus. I would have really enjoyed this book if I was entering or part of the advertising field. I would have really, really enjoyed it had I watched any episodes of Mad Men, supposedly loosely based on this book. Femina writes in a way that is easy to follow and light. At times the book could get confusing with the characters as so many were mentioned,...more
Apparently the basis for AMC TV's "Mad Men", it was a bunch of anecdotes told in a fairly conversational style. I think that I could write ad copy.
A little disappointed, quick and easy read, not much narrative more like a stream of "oh i remember this one time..." not very exciting.
A nice little time capsule of a book, and nice back story for anyone interesting in the lives of the real "Mad Men." Not a thriller by any means, but not bad.
So interesting. And I LOVE the title. For someone who grew up hearing "made in Japan", it's really clever.
Wow, this book was really awful. I've never seen Mad Men before, but I certainly hope it's better than this!
Loved this. There's no structure, no real sense of progression, just one crazy story after another. It's a breeze to read, refreshingly schizophrenic and an interesting look at a time when advertising ruled the world. It's all different now, of course.
A perfect companion to Madmen. The source of many of its characters and ideas.
I haven't seen Mad Men but after reading this book I'll definitely take a look.
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May 08, 2012 04:22am