Advertising in the 60s: Turncoats, Traditionalists, and Waste Makers in America's Turbulent Decade

The 1960s provides Warlaumont with the backdrop for examining the struggle of advertising during the anti-establishment movement in one of America's most colorful but turbulent decades. Targeted by the counterculture, threatened with government regulation, criticized as a waste maker by social critics, weakened by internal strife between the liberal and traditional forces within the industry, and faced with the consumption-weary public, advertising faced one of its most challenging times. Yet surprisingly, it made history with its unprecedented creativity and innovation during the 60s.

Distancing itself from the Establishment, advertising, as a wolf in sheep's clothing, joined the cultural revolution, changed the way it related to its audience, and attempted to seduce consumers with humor, resonance, candidness, and a power-to-the-people approach. Masking its ultimate goal to maintain, preserve, and promote the consumption ethic and business elite, advertising joined an infectious wave to overturn the old and stodgy ways. Becoming a turncoat by appearing to abandon its traditional materialistic and authoritarian stance—even mimicking it in some instances—advertising became a cause celebre with its colorful and humorous campaigns, validating itself while under fire. Using the 60s as a backdrop, Warlaumont examines the struggle of a traditional institution during one of America's most turbulent decades. Scholars, students, and researchers involved with business, communications, and advertising history as well as the general public interested in the 1960s will find this study fascinating.