Breaking Up America

A study of target marketing, this text exposes the advertising industry and its strategies for homing in on the American consumer. Combining analysis of contemporary practices with an historical perspective, it traces the shift that began in the mid-1970s when advertisers rejected mass marketing in favour of ever more aggressive target marketing. The text shows how advertisers feature America as a nation that is breaking up. The advertising and media industries have understood, and then responded to, the profound sense of division and self-absorption among Americans. It shows how advertisers exploit differences between consumers based on income, age, gender, race, marital status, ethnicity and lifestyles.