The Selling of 9/11: How a National Tragedy Became a Commodity

From American flag decals and replicas of the World Trade Center to an emotionally fueled advertising campaign for The New York Times, the marketing and commodification of September 11 reveals the contradictory processes by which consumers in the U.S. (and around the world) communicate and construct national identity through cultural and symbolic goods. Contributed essays take critical stock of the role that consumer goods, media and press outlets, commercial advertising, marketers, and corporate public relations have played in shaping cultural memory of a national tragedy.