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Adcreep

a book about pervasive ("omnipresent"), targeted advertising, marketing, technology, and society by Mark Bartholomew

Adcreep

A compelling critique of the American societal and particularly the American legal system’s failure to protect privacy rights from the relentless and well funded onslaught of pervasive advertising (Bartholomew uses the term “omnipresent advertising”), Adcreep explores the fusion of cognitive neuroscience, technology, and marketing into what’s becoming an inescapable web of ever-present advertising, custom tailored to our individual preferences and indeed our innermost psychology, some of which lies beneath our own ability to comprehend and explain.

“These techniques let advertisers know us on a deeper, more intimate level than ever before, dramatically tilting the historical balance of power between advertiser and audience. The algorithms that advertisers use to analyze our Facebook likes do a better job of identifying our personalities than our friends, lovers, or families do. Automated systems decode our facial expressions, revealing emotions we would otherwise be able to hide. Brain scans and biometric measurements tell marketers what we are feeling even when we cannot verbalize those feelings ourselves. Meanwhile, in a world of omnipresent advertising, corporate America can hide in plain sight. When no space is off-limits to commercial appeals, we become numb to the ideology of advertising, lowering our defenses, accepting Madison Avenue’s suggestions for self-definition, and no longer considering alternative, non-market-based perspectives.” — from the introduction to Adcreep (2017)

Adcreep: The Case Against Modern Marketing
by Mark Bartholomew
Standford University Press

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