Weapons of Mass Persuasion

Marketing the War Against Iraq

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Political Science, International, History, Military
Cover of the book Weapons of Mass Persuasion by Paul Rutherford, University of Toronto Press, Scholarly Publishing Division
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Paul Rutherford ISBN: 9781442656048
Publisher: University of Toronto Press, Scholarly Publishing Division Publication: December 15, 2004
Imprint: Language: English
Author: Paul Rutherford
ISBN: 9781442656048
Publisher: University of Toronto Press, Scholarly Publishing Division
Publication: December 15, 2004
Imprint:
Language: English

With nearly sixty percent of Americans initially against a pre-emptive war without sanction from the United Nations, and even higher anti-war numbers in most other nations of the world, the 2003 war against Iraq quickly became an enormous public relations challenge for the George W. Bush administration. The subject of Weapons of Mass Persuasion is a war in which American patriotism became so mired in commercial jingoism that the demarcations between entertainment and political conduct disappeared completely.

In this engaging and disturbing book, Paul Rutherford shows how the marketing campaign for the war against Iraq was constructed and carried out. He argues that not only was the campaign a new chapter in the presentation of real-time war as pop culture, but that its deeper implications have now come to constitute part of the history of modern democracy. Situating the war against Iraq within an existing tradition of war as narrative, spectacle, and, more broadly, commodity, Rutherford offers a brief overview of the history of civic advertising and propaganda, then examines in detail the different dimensions of three weeks of war presented to North Americans as it became a branded conflict, processed and cleansed to appeal to the well-established tastes of veteran consumers of popular culture.

Including incisive analyses of visual material - speeches, editorial cartoons, and media political commentary, but particularly news reports of such sound bite events as the bombing of Baghdad, the toppling of the Hussein statue, and the rescue of captured soldier Private Jessica Lynch - as well as extensive polling data from around the world and interviews with the actual consumers of war, Weapons of Mass Persuasion chronicles the making of a Hollywood war: fast-paced and heroic, pitting the forces of good against the forces of evil to achieve a triumphant, sanitized, and commodified outcome. Not since Naomi Klein's No Logo have the gods of marketing and the art of commercialism been so thoroughly disrobed.

Electronic Format Disclaimer: Images removed at the request of the rights holder.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

With nearly sixty percent of Americans initially against a pre-emptive war without sanction from the United Nations, and even higher anti-war numbers in most other nations of the world, the 2003 war against Iraq quickly became an enormous public relations challenge for the George W. Bush administration. The subject of Weapons of Mass Persuasion is a war in which American patriotism became so mired in commercial jingoism that the demarcations between entertainment and political conduct disappeared completely.

In this engaging and disturbing book, Paul Rutherford shows how the marketing campaign for the war against Iraq was constructed and carried out. He argues that not only was the campaign a new chapter in the presentation of real-time war as pop culture, but that its deeper implications have now come to constitute part of the history of modern democracy. Situating the war against Iraq within an existing tradition of war as narrative, spectacle, and, more broadly, commodity, Rutherford offers a brief overview of the history of civic advertising and propaganda, then examines in detail the different dimensions of three weeks of war presented to North Americans as it became a branded conflict, processed and cleansed to appeal to the well-established tastes of veteran consumers of popular culture.

Including incisive analyses of visual material - speeches, editorial cartoons, and media political commentary, but particularly news reports of such sound bite events as the bombing of Baghdad, the toppling of the Hussein statue, and the rescue of captured soldier Private Jessica Lynch - as well as extensive polling data from around the world and interviews with the actual consumers of war, Weapons of Mass Persuasion chronicles the making of a Hollywood war: fast-paced and heroic, pitting the forces of good against the forces of evil to achieve a triumphant, sanitized, and commodified outcome. Not since Naomi Klein's No Logo have the gods of marketing and the art of commercialism been so thoroughly disrobed.

Electronic Format Disclaimer: Images removed at the request of the rights holder.

More books from University of Toronto Press, Scholarly Publishing Division

Cover of the book The Niagara Escarpment by Paul Rutherford
Cover of the book Sir Guy Carleton by Paul Rutherford
Cover of the book Reshaping Toronto's Waterfront by Paul Rutherford
Cover of the book HIV Prevention and Bisexual Realities by Paul Rutherford
Cover of the book Rethinking Unequal Exchange by Paul Rutherford
Cover of the book Textual Masculinity and the Exchange of Women in Renaissance Venice by Paul Rutherford
Cover of the book Getting Past 'the Pimp' by Paul Rutherford
Cover of the book New Liberalism by Paul Rutherford
Cover of the book Leading the Modern University by Paul Rutherford
Cover of the book Philosophical Perspectives on Bioethics by Paul Rutherford
Cover of the book Austerity by Paul Rutherford
Cover of the book My Lady of the Snows by Paul Rutherford
Cover of the book A Nation of Immigrants by Paul Rutherford
Cover of the book Patrician Liberal by Paul Rutherford
Cover of the book 'Lector Ludens' by Paul Rutherford
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy