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

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

“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