Advertising on Trial: Consumer Activism and Corporate Public Relations in the 1930s (The History of Media and Communication)

The dynamic relationship between Depression-era consumer rights groups and advertisers Annotation It hasn't occurred to even the harshest critics of advertising since the 1930s to regulate advertising as extensively as its earliest opponents almost succeeded in doing. Met with fierce political opposition from organized consumer movements when it emerged, modern advertising was viewed as propaganda that undermined the ability of consumers to live in a healthy civic environment. In Advertising on Trial, Inger L. Stole examines how these consumer activists sought to limit the influence of corporate powers by rallying popular support to moderate and transform advertising. She weaves their story together through the extensive use of primary sources, including archival research done with consumer and trade group records, as well as trade journals and a thorough engagement with the existing literature. Stole's account of this contentious struggle also demonstrates how public relations developed as a way to justify laissez-faire corporate advertising in light of a growing consumer rights movement, and how the failure to rein in advertising was significant not just for that period but for ours as well In the 1930s, the United States almost regulated advertising to a degree that seems unthinkable today. Activists viewed modern advertising as propaganda that undermined the ability of consumers to live in a healthy civic environment. Organized consumer movements fought the emerging ad business and its practices with fierce political opposition. Inger L. Stole examines how consumer activists sought to limit corporate influence by rallying popular support to moderate and change advertising. Stole weaves the story through the extensive use of primary sources, including archival research done with consumer and trade group records, as well as trade journals and engagement with the existing literature. Her account of the struggle also demonstrates how public relations developed in order to justify laissez-faire corporate advertising in light of a growing consumer rights movement, and how the failure to rein in advertising was significant not just for civic life in the 1930s but for our era as well. Cover Title Page Copyright Page Contents Preface 1. The Rise of a Corporate Culture: Early Consumer Response 2. Advertising Challenged: The Creation of Consumers' Research Inc. and the Rise of the 1930s Consumer Movement 3. The Drive for Federal Advertising Regulation, 1933-35 4. A Consumer Movement Divided: The Birth of Consumers Union of the United States Inc. 5. Defining the Consumer Agenda: The Business Community Joins the Fray 6. Legislative Closure: The Wheeler-Lea Amendment 7. Red-Baiting the Consumer Movement Epilogue Appendix A: Key Players Appendix B: Legislative Developments, 1933-38 Notes Index The Rise Of A Corporate Culture : Early Consumer Response -- Advertising Challenged : The Creation Of Consumers' Research Inc. And The Rise Of The 1930s Consumer Movement -- The Drive For Federal Advertising Regulation, 1933-1935 -- A Consumer Movement Divided : The Birth Of Consumers Union Of The United States Inc. -- Defining The Consumer Agenda: The Business Community Joins The Fray -- Legislative Closure : The Wheeler-lea Amendment -- Red-baiting The Consumer Movement. Inger L. Stole. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [209]-276) And Index. The rise of a corporate culture : early consumer response Advertising challenged : the creation of consumers' research and the rise of the 1930s consumer movement The drive for legislation to establish federal advertising regulation, 1933-1935 A consumer movement divided : the birth of Consumers Union Inc. Defining the "consumer agenda," the business community joins the Frey Legislative closure : the Wheeler-Lea Amendment Witch hunt, red baiting, and the end to the radical critique of advertising. Met with fierce political opposition from organized consumer movements, modern advertising was viewed as propaganda that undermined the ability of consumers to live in a healthy civic environment. This book examines how consumer activists sought to limit the influence of corporate powers by rallying popular support to moderate advertising. The end of the Civil War heralded a new industrial era in the United States.