"Getting to Know You,Getting to Know all About You"

by Mike Gange

Twenty Ads That Shook the World: The Century’s Most Ground Breaking Advertising and How it Changed Us.
by James B. Twitchell
Three Rivers Press, $21.00, 229 pages

Psst! Want to know a secret? Not all advertising is bad. In fact, sometimes, writes James Twitchell, there are lots of things to admire about the ad campaign surrounding certain products.

University of Florida Professor Twitchell, well known for his understanding of and writing about advertising takes yet another look at advertising in Twenty Ads That Shook the World: The Century’s Most Ground Breaking Advertising and How it Changed Us. His previously published works include ADCult USA; Carnival Culture; and For Shame: the Loss of Common Decency in American Culture.

This time Professor Twitchell tells us about some ads that have become classics because of their campaign, their message, their power or their innovations. Although he titles his work Twenty Ads that Shook the World, a whole lot more than just these 20 ads is discussed here. In each of the twenty chapters, Twitchell introduces us to the product, giving us a brief history of it and setting the scene for the product development. He talks about the genesis of the adverting around the product and how well it has done. He even knows where the ad copy came from and the original agency that helped shape public perceptions.

Take a look, for example, at Twitchell’s chapter on the Marlboro Man. It is a wonderful piece, full of documented research leading to interesting details, all wrapped in a story-teller’s folksy intimacy. That chapter alone is worth the cost of the book. It is the kind of story that makes teaching about media and advertising a whole lot richer – and easier – for us all. And there are 19 others that all just as fun.

Mike Gange teaches media studies and journalism at Fredericton High.