The Man Who Sold America: The Amazing (but True!) Story of Albert D.
Lasker and the Creation of the Advertising Century
We're living in the Age of Persuasion. Leaders and organizations of all kinds—public
and private, large and small—fulfill their missions only by competing in the marketplace
of images and messages. To win in that marketplace, they need advertising. This has been
true since the advent of mass media, from mass-circulation magazines and radio through the
age of television and the Internet.
Yet even as they use advertising to capture consumers' imaginations and build their
brands, few people know of the ingenious and tormented man who built the modern
advertising industry and shaped a new consumer sensibility as the twentieth century
unfolded: Albert D. Lasker.
Drawing on a recently uncovered trove of Lasker's papers, Jeffrey Cruikshank
and Arthur Schultz have written a fascinating biography of one of the past century's most
influential, intriguing, troubled, and instructive figures. Lasker's creative and powerful
use of "reason-why" advertising to inject ideas and arguments into ad campaigns
had a profound impact on modern advertising, foreshadowing the consumer-centered
"unique selling proposition" approach that dominates the industry today. His
tactics helped launch or revitalize companies and brands that remain household
names—including Palmolive, Goodyear, and Quaker Oats.
As Lasker rose in prominence, he went beyond consumer products to apply his brilliance
to presidential politics, government service, and professional sports, changing the game
wherever he went, and building a vast fortune along the way. But his intensity had a
price—he was felled by mental breakdowns throughout his life. This book also tells the
story of how he fought back with determination and with support from family and friends in
an age when lack of effective treatment doomed most mentally ill people.
The Man Who Sold America is a riveting account of a man larger than life, who
shaped not only an industry but also a century.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1: The Orator and the Entrepreneur
Chapter 2: The Galveston Hothouse
Chapter 3: Success in Chicago
Chapter 4: Salesmanship in Print
Chapter 5: Growing Up, Breaking Down
Chapter 6: The Greatest Copywriter
Chapter 7: Orange Juice and Raisin Bread
Chapter 8: Fighting for Leo Frank
Chapter 9: Into the Tomato Business
Chapter 10: Saving Baseball from Itself
Chapter 11: Venturing into Politics
Chapter 12: Electing a President
Chapter 13: The Damnedest Job in the World
Chapter 14: A Family Interlude
Chapter 15: A Defeat and Two Victories
Chapter 16: Selling the Unmentionable, and More
Chapter 17: Retrenching and Reshaping
Chapter 18: Selling and Unselling California
Chapter 19: The Downward Spiral
Chapter 20: Changing a Life
Chapter 21: Finding Peace
Chapter 22: The Lasker Legacy
A Note on Primary Sources Notes About the Author
480 pages, Hardcover