DOWNFALL OF AN ICON: The True Inside Story of Publishers Clearing House

by Darrell Lester

The rise and fall of PCH is the ultimate treatise on American capitalism -- a gripping journey of fortune, fame, scandal and collapse. Laced throughout are heart-warming tales of surprised contest winners and laugh-out-loud antics of a wild but lovable executive team.

* PCH was once the most beloved company on the planet with free media coverage everywhere including Oprah, Letterman, Cheers, Seinfeld, SNL, Suits, The New York Times, and Playboy magazine. But overnight the company became a pariah amidst an avalanche of negative press along with lawsuits from all corners -- all 50 attorneys general, class action lawsuits, and more.

* PCH was once the best of what the business world has to offer -- caring, generous, honorable, and fun loving. What other organization do you know provides fresh cut flowers weekly on every employee’s desk, laughs as their Treasurer delivers a speech in his underwear, and gives nearly $1 billion to charity? But under new management a Jekyll-and-Hyde transformation emerged as greed and uncaring took over.

The story is told by a 30-year employee who rose from an entry-level position to Senior Vice President. He was involved in all major decisions -- the good and the bad -- and is the only person alive who knows the whole tale. No one else worked closely with all seven original VP's hired by the founder and with the new management team when the old-guard retired.

211 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2024

Reviews

[Lisa Kamhi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I worked for this company for 18 years. Back in the day it was a great place to work! So much fun. This book is a great insight into this iconic company including its downfall.

[Rex Hurst · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an interesting book on the rise and fall of Publisher's Clearing House by a man who spent thirty years on the inside. Publisher's Clearing House, who sold magazine subscriptions via a sweepstakes, was always something in the background of my life. I never thought about it and when it disappeared I never blinked. But it was still an interesting story. It was government interference, a lot of grandstanding politicians more interested in publicity than doing good, and the dishonest press who brought them down.

What really caught me off-guard was when the sweepstakes went away, and they used to be everywhere, was how many other industries suffered as well. At their high-point the sweeps were sending out millions of pieces of mail a week. As a result, a lot of magazines used the sweeps for subscriptions so many of them went bankrupt. Printers who printed all the packages and those little stamps you would slap on also went out of business. Additionally, all the postal service lost close to $200 million a year out of that fiasco.

It wasn't the best written book, but I enjoyed the anecdotes and stories of winners. For those who remember Publisher's Clearing House, you might want to take a look.

[James Boitano · Rating 5 out of 5]

I gave this a five star rating not because it was a perfect book, but because it tells the story of PCH very well. It's told through a mixture of plain facts and recollections of a man who spent 30 years at the company from when it was just starting to the juggernaut it was when he left. The book tells of the many myths and outright lies about the company the many many success's. In my opinion it could have been a tad shorter, but the author truly loved the company, the people in it and didn't want to leave anything out. It's worth a read for sure.

[Caren Schwartz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Entertaining Reading about a company that many are familiar with...
Did you ever order a magazine through PCH or just send back the contest entry? Fascinating story about a company that we knew but never really knew. Written so that you feel like you are chatting with the author - an insider. Funny stories are interspersed to help keep this entertaining. It’s worth your time to learn what went on behind the scenes.

[Rick · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick read with Darrell Lester's experience and career at the iconic PCH. An interesting tail of an entire industry. I'm not sure that some of the marketing boundaries that PCH pushed led to the firms downfall but their competitors I think were much more egregious and unethical in their approach but since PCH was the biggest in the industry it was painted with the same brush. At the end of the day it PCH likely would have had a "downfall" like most magazines and CD publishers in the day but it was an interesting company that benefited from a unique marketing model.

[Eric Eskin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lot of filler

Would have liked this to have been more focused on the business as opposed to the large number of anecdotes.