Twenty Ads That Shook the World: The Century's Most Groundbreaking Advertising and How It Changed Us All

by James B. Twitchell

Like it or not, commercial speech -- advertising -- makes up most of what we share as a culture. We live in a time when the vast majority of Americans can recite, almost without thinking about it, the ingredients of a McDonald's Big Mac but would be hard-pressed to do the same with, say, a line or two of Wordsworth's poetry. It's with this in mind that James B. Twitchell, one of the most respected advertising scholars and pundits, and the author of the classic advertising text Adcult USA , has chosen the twenty ads (complete with their artwork) of the twentieth century that have most influenced our culture and marketplace. 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 ads are the signposts of a century of consumerism, our modern canon that is understood, accepted, beloved, and hated the world over.

Twitchell has chosen carefully. These are not necessarily the ads and the ad campaigns that have been most effective in selling their products, but rather those that have entered the popular lexicon and had a profound effect on us all, often without our knowing it. The ads and the people behind them developed the art of selling things, and became in the process cultural artifacts. In other words, these ads became events in advertising culture and, by extension, in common culture.

Each ad and its overall campaign are deconstructed; we see firsthand how and why they are created, which needs they address, what boundaries they break. And we meet the geniuses of the business -- Rosser Reeves, Leo Burnett, David Ogilvy, Claude Hopkins -- and learn what made them tick.

Individually, these are fascinating accounts of how specific, brilliant ads were developed and run. Together, these ads tell the history of our century through the lens of consumerism. Twenty Ads That Shook the World will stand as one of the genre's seminal texts, equally useful to the people working in, or studying the art of, advertising, and to those of us who, despite our best intentions, say, "Where's the Beef ?"

Genres: Nonfiction, Business, Reference, Cultural, History, Social

240 pages, Hardcover

First published April 25, 2000

About the author

James B. Twitchell is an American author and former professor of English, known for his work on advertising, consumer culture, and popular media. He earned his BA, MA, and PhD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. A tenured professor at the University of Florida, Twitchell resigned in 2008 following allegations of plagiarism. Despite this, he remains recognized for his engaging writing style and provocative insights into American cultural and consumer behavior.

Reviews

[Martin Bihl · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is a really exceptional book.

i was suspicious at first, frankly because of the title. even though i am an advertising guy, i don't think any ads "shook the world". but with one exception, that's not really twitchell's point. this is a book of the ads that really changed advertising. the touchstones. the ads that everyone in advertising - and even some people outside of it - should know and understand. his prose is clear, entertaining and smart. his examples are spot on. and his insights are tremendous.

the one exception that i note above is that twitchell draws a very clear connection between the tactics of advertising and those of religion, which quickly leads him to the idea that ads are in fact the culture that connects americans (and by extension the world) together. he's not happy about this, but he acknowledges it, and i think he's probably right.

all in all, very much worthwhile.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

More of an evolution of advertising, than the title implies. The milestones of advertising from 1870s through 2000 are interesting and read like a great college lecture. It lends itself well to slow but steady reading by chapter. Unfortunately this feels really aged, it's 2000 publish date means that the internet isn't covered at all and the lack of reference into current advertising feels like a gap throughout.

[Ron Herbst · Rating 4 out of 5]

An essential component in understanding our culture today. Twitchell investigates some of the roots of how advertisers attempted (and amazingly succeeded) in motivating us to want things we didn't know we wanted. His narrative is simplified into exactly twenty examples of such mass-mind-trickery, each example raised as exemplary of a different technique, explaining how it was developed, how it works on the consumer's mind, and how/whether it is still effectively used in the present day.

[Tomas Bella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly thoughtful and informative.

[Noel Salaices · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book for my Advertising class in college and I loved it. Especially the chapter about diamonds. It’s a good read for anyone who is interesting in marketing and understanding the history of marketing through some very famous ads.

[Bjoern · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not sure if the author is really an afficionado who is just SO enloved in his field of profession and/or study that he's able to elaborate so long and detailed about every little bit of advertisement that SEEMS to have changed how advertisement worked, was viewed by the public or earned it's bread and butter (not to call it waxing on endlessly with bad poetry about advertising) or if he just had bought two or three autobiographies too many of dead/long retired admen and just thought "why did i buy them, i need to do something to make money out of this"...

I'll not say that there was NO interesting information in this roughly 200 pages or that i wasn't impressed by some of the analysis of stuff i'd never heard of before, but in it's completeness it's just too much, too enthusiastic, too unimportant to write a book with so big a title about a bunch of advertisements only an advertiser can fall in love with. Sometimes his in depth commentary of important changes in ad-culture do seem hardly related to the chapter-motto taken from some advertisement or campaign (e.g. the perfume chapter has maybe 10% to say about Revlon's Charlie campaign and much about odorous perfume spritzing ladies in department stores and malls...

Finally, it's a tad dated... I'd have liked a little bit about the changes from television marketing to internet based concepts too, but with a first publishing date of 2000 that's probably too early for that to have really taken hold.

In the end it's not a bad book and had some enjoyable thoughts (i still can smile over "polished transparent rocks" from the chapter about de Beers and diamond trade) but as much i don't regret the reading, i still cannot share the enthusiasm of the author over his subject and the examples he's chosen to enlighten us all over the high art and culture of selling other people's products to the unwitting masses.

[Taylor T · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book to continue my crash course in advertising, and it was actually pretty interesting! I appreciate that James B. Twitchell doesn't fawn over iconic ads—he dissects them, and tells the nitty gritty story of why the campaign was chosen, or why it works. He often compares advertising to religion, and he's not wrong! I learned a lot and was exposed to some ads I'd never seen before—but ones I definitely should be familiar with as a copywriter.

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun read- Probably not good for my already cynical self to read about the techniques behind some of the biggest ad campaigns, but still.. :) Also, after reading this book, I found myself all the more aware of which angles are being used & how the ads are designed to appeal to & persuade. If the history or psychology behind advertising intrigues, it's worth at least skimming through.

[Ke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every time I go to China, I get aggravated that I have to waste my time haggling whenever I want to buy anything at a traditional shop. Books like these remind me that Western ads can be pretty influential even though I take them for granted.

[Julie Sikorski · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book really provided some insight to ads of the past. I had to read this for a new job and actually enjoyed it.

[Alex]

Twenty Ads That Shook the World : The Century's Most Groundbreaking Advertising and How It Changed Us All by James Twitchell (2000)

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting history of advertising and the consumer culture in America; an easy book to flip through.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-written. I'm learning a lot.

[Linda]

A sometimes creepy, always entertaining look at how advertising shapes our customs, beliefs, hopes and fears.

[A]

Definitely a book on ads Twitchell felt changed advertising as a societal culture. Not specifically the most groundbreaking, memorable ads that others will choose, but in his intro he specifies exactly this. My professor had us read this, with every ad being dissected for its impact. Some were far too picky and minuscule-Twitchell elegantly spun his tale to back up each choice for sure. Others are quintessentially ads that shook the world. Perhaps less of a shake, more of a slight tremble. Overall Twitchell has a lot of personality and I loved his humor.