Adland

Starred review from December 31, 2007
In this heady, well-researched gem, British journalist Tungate (Fashion Brands
) illustrates the history and globalization of the $400 billion a year advertising industry. Tungate begins by simultaneously addressing consumers' skepticism (or outright disdain) toward the “jargon, psychobabble and double talk of advertising†and advertisers' laudable financing of “a free, varied, democratic media,†before hunting down the field's birth during the Industrial Revolution. He traces the industry from there through today's exploding media frontier of new global markets, viral advertising and seemingly infinite bandwidth. Along the way, he looks at trailblazers like Bill Bernbach and David Ogilvy, whose prosperous agencies and their offspring propelled advertising worldwide, and especially in the U.S., throughout the 20th century. He looks at key players, time periods and hot spots (Madison Avenue in the 1950s, Tokyo's Dentsu, the Omnicom megamerger) with snappy storytelling, interviews with bigwigs and bucketsful of trivia. Tungate argues effectively that the prevalence and effectiveness of a given country's advertising is commensurate with that country's entire economy; media enthusiasts and professionals will find this a handy, entertaining and insightful guide to the past and future of the ad world.