Description
Book SynopsisThe advertising industry's rise to power, in war and peace
Trade Review"Terrific new study of the advertising industry's role in silencing capitalism's most outspoken critics."--
Consumption, Markets & Culture"Can spark an interesting debate about advertising's role in society and its relationship to consumer demand and desire. . . . well written, highly readable."--
Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly"Inger L. Stole provides a well-researched study of the advertising industry's political maneuvers during World War II and their implications for the postwar era. Stole's study is the most detailed account to date of the wartime advertising industry as a whole."--
The Journal of American History"Stole weaves a thought-provoking tale of corporate power and government collusion drawn from the archives of the Ad Council, the Consumer's Union, the Federal Trade Commission, the Offices of War Programs and Information, and numerous federal officials and corporate big-wigs. The result is a lucid, top-down discussion."--
Journal of American Culture"An excellent case study of a business during the war. . . . Stole shows us that the advertising industry was carefully and craftily navigating the potentially hazardous waters of the war economy, and thus laying the groundwork for its postwar efflorescence."
Journal of American Studies"Well conceived and judiciously argued,
Advertising at War shows how the World War II years were critical to solidifying advertising's place as one of the basic institutions of American society and economy. Stole provides insight into the advertising industry's campaign to defend itself and free enterprise as well as the wartime consumer movement."-- Elizabeth Fones-Wolf, author of
Waves of Opposition: Labor and the Struggle for Democratic RadioTable of ContentsList of Illustrations vi
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction 1 Chapter 1. Prelude to War 17
Chapter 2. Advertising Navigates the Defense Economy 35
Chapter 3. The Initial Year of the Advertising Council 56
Chapter 4. The Consumer Movement's Return 71
Chapter 5. Advertising, Washington, and the Renamed War Advertising Council 94
Chapter 6. The Increasing Role of the War Advertising Council 121
Chapter 7. Peace and the Reconversion of the Advertising Council 153
Epilogue 176 Notes 189
Index 255
