ARE THEY SELLING HER LIPS?"" Advertising and Identity

by Carol Moog ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 19, 1990

Here, Moog, a delver in clinical psychology-cum-market research, presents a primer on how TV and print advertising interacts with reality. The bulk of Moog's text consists of ""critiquing ads"" at length for the edification of those who never learned from the likes of Vance Packard, on the one hand, or David Ogilvy, on the other. Whether it's the classic Maidenform dream ads or the musky Calvin Klein perfume promotions, Moog's not-so-startling synthesis is that image, not product, is being sold. Working her way through such matters as stereotypes (she doesn't cotton to displays of fat people, but ""an attractive heavy woman"" passes muster) or salacious hustles (featuring such come-ons as ""the submissive female-rump presentation"" to sell jeans), the author illustrates with some ten-dozen photos--enough to equal several slick magazines or a couple of hours before the tube. The gimmick here is the combination of advertising imagery with simplistic case studies supposedly drawn from Moog's private practice. There's ""Marlene"" with her sexual hang-ups, ""Kevin"" with his midlife crisis, chubby ""Lynn"" and an army of others. But drawing a significant connection between patently fictional characters and advertising proves fruitless and diminishes an otherwise mildly entertaining text. The use of actors rather than ""real"" people, as Moog notes, has blighted many campaigns. It can do the same for a book. An offhand study of what Madison Avenue is really selling; not a bad one, but subject, perhaps, to overselling.

Pub Date: March 19, 1990

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Morrow

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1990

Categories: NONFICTION