Advertising Today (

by Warren Berger

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 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.

Genres: Nonfiction

512 pages, Paperback

First published June 13, 2001

About the author

I’m an author and speaker on innovation, creativity, and the power of questioning. I invite fellow curious thinkers to join me in exploring the power of inquiry to spark breakthrough ideas on my questioning site. My latest book is the updated 10th Anniversary edition of A MORE BEAUTIFUL QUESTION, published by Bloomsbury Worldwide, with new chapters on how questioning can help make you a better leader … a clearer thinker … and a more effective communicator, and much more

Reviews

[Emir · Rating 3 out of 5]

Advertising Today spans roughly 500 pages. It’s divided in 14 chapters thorough which Berger examines the wold of contemporary advertising starting with the “1960s creative revolution.” The survey is international and somewhat varied in scope. The bulk of the book is comprised from large and high–quality reproductions of printed ad campaigns and video stills.

Perhaps revealing my prejudice towards advertising I flipped through this one without reading much except the Entry on Oliviero Toscani in "Pushing the Limits" chapter which I subsequently used as a bibliographic entry and a source in my "Dada and Contemporary Graphic Design" paper. Oliviero Toscani is a former creative director of clothing manufacturer Bennetton, who now runs Fabrica, an Italian center for communication arts. Four of Toscani’s ads for Benetton are reproduced in this chapter.

[Michael Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Muhammad Rully Moenandir · Rating 4 out of 5]

very good books for all new comer in advertising agency