Vance Packard warned us what was going to happen. Reading this 1950s book again today provides the chilling view that we were falling into a brand chasm 50 years ago, and we knew it.
The Hidden Persuaders was published in 1957 and has sold over a million copies. It addresses the immediate post-war consumer situation, the beginnings of motivational research, subliminal activities in marketing and the manipulation of expectation and desire for new products.
These techniques were also applied to politics.
The early naivety of Packard's views have been discredited as marketing manipulation has advanced. What is important to bear in mind is that Packard was flagging the activities for the first time.
Looking back, the whole issue of mass market motivation, the development of new consumer product desire and the ability to see the 'state we're in' in hindsight, the book is well worth revisiting for all of you who have not read it.
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