Total Package, The: The Secret History and Hidden Meanings of Boxes, Bottles, Cans, and Other Persuasive Containers - Softcover

Hine, Thomas

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0316365467 ISBN 13: 9780316365468

Publisher: Back Bay Books, 1997

Synopsis

* 'Nothing less than a cultural history of the American character, as seen through - or in - the metal, glass and cardboard carriers that most of us take for granted.' - PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER

About this title

About the Author

Thomas Hine writes on design and popular culture for the New York Times and other publication. he is the Multimedia editor of Bartlett's Familiar Quotations and the author of two previous books.

From the Back Cover

In the average half-hour trip to the supermarket, 30,000 products vie for the shopper's attention, and those that get noticed have only a sixth of a second to make their sales pitch. Today's marketers know they have to trigger desire instantly - and they do so, visually, by creating packages that make exactly the right promises. Packages understand you better than you understand packages, and The Total Package tells why. It is a delightful and erudite exploration of the way modern packages play on our deepest fears and desires to sell us germ-killing soap or high-profile vodka. Ranging from ancient Mesopotamia to Madison Avenue, from Aunt Jemima to Madonna, from Marlboros to McDonald's, Thomas Hine surveys packaging throughout history, exploring how advances in bottles, cans, and boxes have remade products, stores, and modern life. A package is a protector, a friend, and, ultimately, a piece of trash. Packages as small as a pillbox or as large as Walt Disney World play on the emotions, even as they promise predictable satisfactions. With an eye for the profound and the absurd, The Total Package describes the exploits of the oatmeal barons, medicine hucksters, psychologists, engineers, and marketing wizards who have made the art of packaging one of America's dominant contributions to world culture. The Total Package is a fascinating look at the unexpected meanings hidden in the most familiar boxes, bottles, cans, and tubes found in every home. Thomas Hine decodes their secret language in a lively narrative revealing the way we sell our products and ourselves, and changing forever the way we see our increasingly packaged world.

Edition details

• Publisher: Back Bay Books
• Publication date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0316365467
• ISBN 13: 9780316365468
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 328