Name Vance Packard Role Journalist | Parents Mabel Case Packard | |
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Born May 22, 1914 ( 1914-05-22 ) Granville Summit, Pennsylvania Occupation American journalist, social critic, and author Died December 12, 1996, Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, United States Spouse Virginia Matthews (m. 1938) Education Pennsylvania State University, Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, Columbia University Nominations National Book Award for Nonfiction Books The hidden persuaders, The Waste Makers, The Status Seekers, The Naked Society, American social classes in | ||
Vance packard originally aired march 1989
Vance Oakley Packard (May 22, 1914 – December 12, 1996) was an American journalist, social critic, and author.
Contents
- Vance packard originally aired march 1989
- Vance packard quotes
- Life and career
- The Hidden Persuaders
- Publications
- References
Vance packard quotes
Life and career
He was born in Granville Summit, Pennsylvania, to Philip J. Packard and Mabel Case Packard. Between 1920-32, he attended local public schools in State College, Pennsylvania, where his father managed a dairy farm owned by the Pennsylvania State College (later Penn State University). He identified himself as a farm boy throughout his life, although he moved to State College and in later life lived in affluent areas. In 1932, he entered Pensylvannia State University where he earned a B.A. degree, majoring in English. He graduated in 1936, and worked briefly for the local newspaper, the Centre Daily Times. He earned his Master's degree at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 1937. He joined the Boston Daily Record that year as a staff reporter; a year later, he married Virginia Matthews.
About 1940, he became a reporter for the Associated Press, and in 1942, joined the staff of The American Magazine as a section editor, later becoming a staff writer. That periodical closed in July, 1956, and Packard became a writer at Collier's, then, after its closing by the end of the year, devoted his full attention to developing book-length projects of his own. Halfway into the next year, his The Hidden Persuaders was published to national attention, launching him into a career as a full-time social critic, lecturing and developing further books.
In 1961 he was named a Distinguished Alumnus by Penn State.
He died in 1996 at the Martha's Vineyard Hospital.
The Hidden Persuaders
In The Hidden Persuaders, first published in 1957, Packard explores the use of consumer motivational research and other psychological techniques, including depth psychology and subliminal tactics, by advertisers to manipulate expectations and induce desire for products, particularly in the American postwar era. He identified eight "compelling needs" that advertisers promise products will fulfill. According to Packard, these needs are so strong that people are compelled to buy products merely to satisfy them. The book also explores the manipulative techniques of promoting politicians to the electorate. Additionally, the book questions the morality of using these techniques. While the book was a top-seller amongsts middle class audiences, it was widely criticised by academics and advertising executives for its sensationalsit tone and unsubstantied writing.