Are They Selling Her Lips?: Advertising and Identity

by Carol Moog

Unraveling the complex relationship between advertisers and consumers, the author decipers the hidden language and imagery of print and broadcast advertising to reveal how Madison Avenue views the masses, and vice versa

236 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 1990

About the author

Carol Moog, PhD, founder of ImagineAct, recently served as the clinical director of the Social Learning Disorders Program at the University of Pennsylvania. She is the psychologist at The Miquon School, actively collaborates with Autism Inclusion Resources (AIR), and works extensively with children, teens, and adults on the autism spectrum in her clinical practice as a licensed psychologist. Carol was an artist-in-residence at Green Tree School and a consultant to the Social Competency Program at the Center for Autism, creating theater-based social skills programs for teens drawing from her experience as a theater improviser, actor, musician, communications consultant, and writer. Among her publications, she is the author of Are They Selling Her Lips? Advertising and Identity. Carol has been interviewed by the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Newsweek, the Philadelphia Inquirer, USA Today, National Public Radio’s Fresh Air, the Today Show, and Good Morning America.

Reviews

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written in the 1980s, this book analyzes advertising of a variety of products from cars to cosmetics during that decade, pointing out the positive and negative in how women are portrayed in these ads.

[Ron · Rating 3 out of 5]

As Calvin Harris might put it, a lot of what is in this book is what was "Acceptable in the 80s". It's an interesting snapshot of what was going on in advertising during that decade, and it's an interesting excersise to contrast what was going on then with how things have changed. However, it's all framed from a 1990 viewpoint, which brings along its own biases. Dr. Moog also has this tendancy to delve a little deep into her semiotic analysis, and she ends up reading a little deep into certain details/metaphors.