Advertising Today

By Warren Berger

Book Overview

Far more than a means of moving merchandise, advertising has become increasingly recognized not only as an art form in itself, but also as a defining element of popular culture. Advertising Today provides a thematic overview of the evolution of advertising around the world over the past 30 years, charting influences from the political and social upheavals of the 1960s to the revolution of the internet in the 1990s. Each chapter includes an intimate interview with a key figure in advertising - including Oliviero Toscani of the controversial Benetton campaigns, American-Express spokesperson Jerry Seinfeld, and John Hegarty of Bartle Boyle Hegarty, the creator of the world-famous Levis ads. In analysing specific advertisements, the book simultaneously acts as a history of global pop culture and a record of the social, cultural and geo-political temperature changes that affect our image-saturated environment. Included are over 500 advertisements originally seen in a wide range of media: print, television, billboards, the internet and even very recent, so-called 'guerrilla' advertising, in which practically anything (pieces of fruit, sand dunes on a beach, pavements) can act as a surface for promoting a product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0714843873
• ISBN13: 9780714843872
• Release Date: March 2004
• Publisher: Phaidon Press
• Length: 512 Pages
• Weight: 5.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.5" x 9.9" x 11.5"
• Age Range: 13 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 8 to Postsecondary

Customer Reviews

Got advertising?

Hardly anyone outside the industry itself has a high opinion of advertising, and I'm probably no different -- most of the time. However, I've long appreciated the occasional high degree of originality and wit of which ad writers and artists have shown themselves capable, especially since the late 1950s. This fat volume brings all of them together, beginning with Volkwagen's groundbreaking "Think Small" campaign. There are chapters on the influence of European copywriting on American ads, the development of a new "visual language," the rise of backhanded "oddvertising," the growth of advertising as a reflection of (and finally an agent of) social change, and the advent of guerilla anti-advertising, each of them an entertaining and instructive mix of graphics and text. There's even a separate chapter on the ups and downs of the famous and long-running "Got Milk?" campaign. This gorgeous book will keep you studying the artwork and reading the discussions far into the night.

rave reviews for this book

As the proud author, just wanted to share w/readers some of the recent press reviews for Advertising Today:"An amazing book," says Esquire magazine; a 4-star rating from Maxim magazine; Village Voice says "media archaelogists will pore over it for decades to come"; praised on ABC World News; on her radio show, Joan Rivers called it "fabulous" & the hot new coffee table book; J. Walter Thompson pres. Bob Jeffrey says, "Never has a book captured the heart and soul of advertising as much as Advertising Today."

You get a lot of book for your money

This isn't just a book for ad students and insiders, though I imagine they'd love it. I'm not an ad junkie myself, but I happen to love this book because it's a very different and interesting coffee table book, that you can spend hours looking at. The ads featured in the book are amazing - funny, clever, intriguing, sometimes works of art in themselves. And the captions explain what's going on, all that sly thinking and logic behind the ads. I find it's the kind of book that really gets people talking. But be forewarned - it's a huge book, so make sure you have a strong coffee table!

this is quite guten!

Excellent collection of work and guest writers, let's save this in a time capsule for future generations to enjoy.

The Advertising Bible

Wow! Every once in a while, maybe every decade, a book comes along that explores its subject so well, it truly is a BIBLE. That's this book on the ad game. Advertising has always affected me strongly---making me cry(the old AT & T "call home"), made me laugh("it must be the puppy chow" dog), made me puke(most any car ads, except the Crocidille Dundee ones, and ALL insurance commercials). Now, after reading this book, I understand more the why and how this stuff gets under my skin. If you're looking for a solid, thorough, complete take on the world of advertising, Berger's big, big text will give it to you. For a look at the hot-shots, tastemakers, and tastebreakers, the interviews are fast, punchy, pithy, funny, and sometimes infuriating. And for an entertaining overview, there are hundreds of color photos of favorite, famous, and infamous ads, with straight-from-the-horse's mouth captions. For all those wanna-be CEOs, who spend a fortune on MBAs in marketing(I have one in my family!!!!), save your time and money, all you need to know is here. What's Berger's next subject?