James B. Twitchell's celebration of the greatest 20 hits of the U.S. advertising industry shows how a thoughtful consideration of ads can add up to a fascinating social history. From Lydia Pinkham's patent medicines (said to cure all serious "Female Complaints") to Nike shoes worn by Michael Jordan, Twitchell gives us a quickie history of the ads that hit home and transformed our culture--the ones that "really had the beef," as he puts it. Some of the feats are amazing. The dazzling "Diamonds are forever" campaign managed to take not particularly rare rocks and transform them into sacred amulets practically everyone buys and never sells (which would depress their value). The ads brilliantly used honeymoon scenes by famous artists and swoony copy to woo women, while devoting a corner of each ad to fact-packed boxes reassuring men that diamonds were sound investments priced according to scientific principles. The jujitsu-psychology techniques of the VW Bug and Avis "We Try Harder" get their due, as does the "Does She... or Doesn't She?" ad that convinced women they could color their graying hair with Clairol's new one-step technology. The racy innuendo appealed to people fearing loss of appeal; the presence of young daughters in the pictures neutralized the floozy image dyeing used to have, and the line "Only her hairdresser knows for sure" soothed the salons that were about to lose their business once women figured out they could use Clairol at home.

There are all kinds of cool stories in this breezy book: how Anacin's $8,200 TV spot depicting a hammer in the headache sufferer's head earned $36 million; how Coke remade Santa literally in its own artist's image; how LBJ beat Goldwater partly because of a single 30-second ad featuring a girl resembling the murder victim in Frankenstein plucking and counting daisy petals while an announcer counts down to a nuclear blast that reminded voters of Goldwater's speeches about nuking Vietnam and made them forget the war was LBJ's fault in the first place. --Tim Appelo


From Publishers Weekly
If Twitchell doesn't prove his thesis that these 20 advertisements became part of the lingua franca and changed the way we look at the world, his lavishly illustrated, breezily entertaining survey does score some solid points. The jolly old Santa Claus known from countless images did not spring from folklore, according to Twitchell, but was invented in the 1920s by the Coca-Cola Co. in its annual Christmas ads (pre-Coke Santas were severe-looking and sometimes wore multicolored suits). Ads for Pears's soap, aimed at Victorian England's upper classes, borrowed an artifact of high cultureAa portrait painted by John Everett Millais called "A Child's World"Athus forever blurring the boundary between art and advertising. De Beers Mines' half-century-long campaign helped make diamonds an instrument of romantic love. Twitchell, whose books on advertising include Adcult USA and Carnival Culture, serves up colorful slices of American advertising history, from a P.T. Barnum circus poster (1879) to turn-of-the-last-century patent medicine ads (peddling nonpatented potions heavily laced with alcohol, opium or cocaine) and Lyndon Johnson's 1964 attack ad against Barry Goldwater, "the most compressed and noxious political ad ever made," which featured a little girl's face disappearing into an atomic mushroom cloud and never mentioned Goldwater at all. Still, it's hard to see how Apple's 1984 commercial, or Michael Jordan's Nike spots, or ads for the VW bug, Absolut vodka or Marlboros did much to change the perceptual universe. (Apr.) Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
There are, as cultural observer and author Twitchell points out, any number of lists about the best ads, coming from ad agencies, associations, individuals, and even industry pundits. But 20 go deeper than great copy, fun design, and memorable moments. There are the dozen-plus works that are profound, deep, moving, and axiomatic. And true to his word, the author selects some unusual as well as famous examples, then expounds on their modern-day significance. P. T. Barnum represents the absolutely best of hype, hyperbole, and humbug, with tenets being exercised even today. A Listerine print ad becomes a great example of constructive discontent--i.e., removing dissonance (halitosis, in this case) and reestablishing the equilibrium (sweet breath). Twitchell waxes most eloquent (and the least analytical) in late-twentieth-century samples: Michael Jordan in his Nike ads is now Icarus, the dream of humankind. Far-fetched at times, but always entertaining. Barbara Jacobs


Review
“Succinct and informative, a ... deep look into a deceptively complex subject.” —Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, New York Times

“Easily the Best Book on Advertising” — Philip Sawyer, director, Starch Advertising Research

“Not a single page is without a cleverly turned sentence, thought-provoking remark, or outrageous conclusion.” —Wired

“An immensely entertaining and seriously provocative piece of work . . . As wise as it is witty, this is a must for anybody really interested in brand marketing—or hooked on nostalgia.” —Baltimore Sun

“Twenty Ads That Shook the World is a triumph. . . . James Twitchell not only recognizes and appreciates the many ways that ads shape our culture, but he also writes about advertising in ways unmatched by any other author.” —Creativity magazine

“This book is on fire with ideas. Far more than a history of great advertising, this invaluable and highly entertaining guide to the power of simple ideas is brimming with insights for anybody who’s ever wanted to buy or sell something.”—Steve Hayden, president, Worldwide Brand Services, Ogilvy & Mather

“A thoroughly enjoyable read that will have you humming more than a few jingles you thought you’d forgotten." —Entrepreneur

“As eerily comforting as a family photo album.” —Esquire

“This book is a treat. . . . Full of surprises and, as the only essential change in the advertising business through the years is the way one manipulates new technology, it is also a rich tapestry of stimulating thinking.” —Mary Wells Lawrence, founding partner, Wells, Rich, & Greene


Review
?Succinct and informative, a ... deep look into a deceptively complex subject.? ?Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, New York Times

?Easily the Best Book on Advertising? ? Philip Sawyer, director, Starch Advertising Research

?Not a single page is without a cleverly turned sentence, thought-provoking remark, or outrageous conclusion.? ?Wired

?An immensely entertaining and seriously provocative piece of work . . . As wise as it is witty, this is a must for anybody really interested in brand marketing?or hooked on nostalgia.? ?Baltimore Sun

?Twenty Ads That Shook the World is a triumph. . . . James Twitchell not only recognizes and appreciates the many ways that ads shape our culture, but he also writes about advertising in ways unmatched by any other author.? ?Creativity magazine

?This book is on fire with ideas. Far more than a history of great advertising, this invaluable and highly entertaining guide to the power of simple ideas is brimming with insights for anybody who?s ever wanted to buy or sell something.??Steve Hayden, president, Worldwide Brand Services, Ogilvy & Mather

?A thoroughly enjoyable read that will have you humming more than a few jingles you thought you?d forgotten." ?Entrepreneur

?As eerily comforting as a family photo album.? ?Esquire

?This book is a treat. . . . Full of surprises and, as the only essential change in the advertising business through the years is the way one manipulates new technology, it is also a rich tapestry of stimulating thinking.? ?Mary Wells Lawrence, founding partner, Wells, Rich, & Greene


Book Description
James Twitchell takes an in-depth look at the ads and ad campaigns—and their creators—that have most influenced our culture and marketplace in the twentieth century. P. T. Barnum’s creation of buzz, Pepsodent and the magic of the preemptive claim, Listerine introducing America to the scourge of halitosis, Nike’s “Just Do It,” Clairol’s “Does She or Doesn’t She?,” Leo Burnett’s invention of the Marlboro Man, Revlon’s Charlie Girl, Coke’s re-creation of Santa Claus, Absolut and the art world—these campaigns are the signposts of a century of consumerism, our modern canon understood, accepted, beloved, and hated the world over.


From the Inside Flap
James Twitchell takes an in-depth look at the ads and ad campaigns—and their creators—that have most influenced our culture and marketplace in the twentieth century. P. T. Barnum’s creation of buzz, Pepsodent and the magic of the preemptive claim, Listerine introducing America to the scourge of halitosis, Nike’s “Just Do It,” Clairol’s “Does She or Doesn’t She?,” Leo Burnett’s invention of the Marlboro Man, Revlon’s Charlie Girl, Coke’s re-creation of Santa Claus, Absolut and the art world—these campaigns are the signposts of a century of consumerism, our modern canon understood, accepted, beloved, and hated the world over.


From the Back Cover
“Succinct and informative, a ... deep look into a deceptively complex subject.” —Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, New York Times

“Easily the Best Book on Advertising” — Philip Sawyer, director, Starch Advertising Research

“Not a single page is without a cleverly turned sentence, thought-provoking remark, or outrageous conclusion.” —Wired

“An immensely entertaining and seriously provocative piece of work . . . As wise as it is witty, this is a must for anybody really interested in brand marketing—or hooked on nostalgia.” —Baltimore Sun

“Twenty Ads That Shook the World is a triumph. . . . James Twitchell not only recognizes and appreciates the many ways that ads shape our culture, but he also writes about advertising in ways unmatched by any other author.” —Creativity magazine

“This book is on fire with ideas. Far more than a history of great advertising, this invaluable and highly entertaining guide to the power of simple ideas is brimming with insights for anybody who’s ever wanted to buy or sell something.”—Steve Hayden, president, Worldwide Brand Services, Ogilvy & Mather

“A thoroughly enjoyable read that will have you humming more than a few jingles you thought you’d forgotten." —Entrepreneur

“As eerily comforting as a family photo album.” —Esquire

“This book is a treat. . . . Full of surprises and, as the only essential change in the advertising business through the years is the way one manipulates new technology, it is also a rich tapestry of stimulating thinking.” —Mary Wells Lawrence, founding partner, Wells, Rich, & Greene


About the Author
JAMES B. TWITCHELL is the author of several books on advertising, including Adcult USA: The Triumph of Advertising in American Culture and Carnival Culture: The Trashing of Taste in America. He is an alumnus professor of English at the University of Florida.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

James Twitchell takes an in-depth look at the ads and ad campaigns—and their creators—that have most influenced our culture and marketplace in the twentieth century. P. T. Barnum’s creation of buzz, Pepsodent and the magic of the preemptive claim, Listerine introducing America to the scourge of halitosis, Nike’s “Just Do It,” Clairol’s “Does She or Doesn’t She?,” Leo Burnett’s invention of the Marlboro Man, Revlon’s Charlie Girl, Coke’s re-creation of Santa Claus, Absolut and the art world—these campaigns are the signposts of a century of consumerism, our modern canon understood, accepted, beloved, and hated the world over.

FROM THE CRITICS

Esquire

As eerily comforting as a family photo album.

Christopher Lehmann-Haupt

Succinct and informative, a ... deep look into a deceptively complex subject.

Entrepreneur

A thoroughly enjoyable read that will have you humming more than a few jingles you thought you’d forgotten.

Creativity

Twenty Ads That Shook the World is a triumph. . . . James Twitchell not only recognizes and appreciates the many ways that ads shape our culture, but he also writes about advertising in ways unmatched by any other author.

Wired