Why did the terrorists target the World Trade Center? Why did they choose United and American airlines over Delta or Southwest? Why do anti-World Trade Organization activists trash Niketown instead of the local supermarket? How is it that a Big Mac is merely lunch in America and a specter of cultural imperialism in France? It is because they are branded, looming as larger-than-life symbols of America. They are ubiquitous names, born of ingenious marketing strategies.
Cultural commentator James B Twitchell demonstrates how branding has infiltrated every corner of high culture today, including religious institutions, universities, and museums. Like everyone else, the gatekeepers to higher culture have turned to the power of marketing for their continued survival.
'Branded Nation' lays bare an American society where megachurches resemble shopping malls, where a university lives or dies on the talents of its image makers and its ranking in US News & World Report, and where museums have turned to motorcycle exhibits and fashion shows to bolster revenue.
Written with great wit and striking optimism, and full of provocative anecdotes and penetrating analyses, Twitchell's parsing of Madison Avenue's takeover of high culture is an engaging work of inspired observation.
