USC alumna Andrea Gardner (M.A. print journalism, '04) explores the ways advertising targets women in a new book titled 30 Second Seduction: Advertisers' Changing Tactics and the Women Who Fall for Them.
"In this frequently facile survey of modern-day marketing, freelance business reporter Gardner likens successful advertisers to good flirts and examines their various strategies for wooing women," according to a Publishers Weekly book review. "Borrowing advertisers' approach, she divides the industry into nine different classifications, assigning each a catchy label and devoting a chapter to its tactics."
About the book:
"Have you ever wondered why you’re drawn to one type of cereal over another or why you think of that model with the gorgeous skin when you are buying a bottle of lotion? You are being seduced by the advertising industry. Every consumer choice you make—from what soap to buy to which car to drive—has been influenced by advertising. In 30 Second Seduction author and Marketplace reporter Andrea Gardner focuses on the many ways that advertising targets women and how those ads affect decisions, purchases, and everyday life.
"When writing 30 Second Seduction, Andrea interviewed a handful of women from diverse backgrounds, of all ages, and from different parts of the U.S. to uncover how advertising impacts every woman in different ways—from their reactions to specific ads to the television ads they found most memorable and what brands they bought recently. She also goes behind the scenes, following an ad firm as they plan the next antidepressant ad marketed to women, and talking to the firm behind Carl’s Jr. infamous “chicken breast” and Paris Hilton commercials. Ultimately, Andrea argues that advertising isn’t a bad thing for women. It is important for women to be informed, objective buyers."
