Can't Buy My Love How Advertising Changes the Way We Think and Feel

by Kilbourne, Jean; Pipher, Mary

• ISBN13: 9780684866000
• ISBN10: 0684866005
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-11-02
• Publisher: Free Press

Summary

"When was the last time you felt this comfortable in a relationship?"-- An ad for sneakers"You can love it without getting your heart broken."-- An ad for a car"Until I find a real man, I'll settle for a real smoke."-- A woman in a cigarette adMany advertisements these days make us feel as if we have an intimate, even passionate relationship with a product. But as Jean Kilbourne points out in this fascinating and shocking expose, the dreamlike promise of advertising always leaves us hungry for more. We can never be satisfied, because the products we love cannot love us back.Drawing upon her knowledge of psychology, media, and women's issues, Kilbourne offers nothing less than a new understanding of a ubiquitous phenomenon in our culture. The average American is exposed to over 3,000 advertisements a day and watches three years' worth of television ads over the course of a lifetime. Kilbourne paints a gripping portrait of how this barrage of advertising drastically affects young people, especially girls, by offering false promises of rebellion, connection, and control. She also offers a surprising analysis of the way advertising creates and then feeds an addictive mentality that often continues throughout adulthood.

Author Biography

Jean Kilbourne,Ed.D, is internationally recognized for her pioneering work on alcohol and tobacco advertising and the image of women in advertising. A widely published writer and speaker who has twice been named Lecturer of the Year by the National Association for Campus Activities, she is best known for her award-winning documentaries, Killing Us Softly, Slim Hopes, and Pack of Lies. She lives in Boston, Massachusetts.

Table of Contents

Foreword	11	(6)
Mary Pipher
Introduction: ``A Girl of Many Parts''	17	(16)
``Buy This Year-Old and Get all his Friends Absolutely Free''	33	(24)
``IN Your Face...All Over the Place!''	57	(19)
``Bath Tissue Is Like Marriages''	76	(19)
``Can an Engine Pump the Valves in Your Heart?''	95	(13)
``Please, Please, You're Driving me Wild''	108	(20)
``The More You Subtract, the More You Add''	128	(27)
``Forget the Rules! Enjoy the Wine''	155	(25)
``What You're Looking for''	180	(37)
``The Dream Begins as Soon as you Open the Door''	217	(17)
``In Life There are Many Loves, But Only One Grande Passion''	234	(17)
``You Talkin' To Me?''	251	(19)
``Two Ways A Woman Can Get Hurt''	270	(22)
``Relax, and Enjoy the Revolution''	292	(23)
Notes	315	(18)
Bibliography	333	(18)
Acknowledgements	351	(4)
Index	355