But maybe I'm not being fair. Maybe I say this because I already knew much of what Ms. Klein tells us - in excruciating detail - throughout her book. Then again, maybe I say this because I don't know how anyone could possibly make it through this entire book, word for word, unless they were reading it in a college class or as part of a discussion group.
I brought this book to my holiday vacation, in Florida. I knew it wasn't a beach book (so Anne, if your book has sand it in when I give it back to you, now you know why!) but I also expected it to be a much easier read than it was. I dutifully took it to the Gulf of Mexico with me everyday, but after a half hour or so, I found it much more entertaining to watch the other people on the beach or to stare at the bright blue sky and wonder why in the heck we live in the frozen state of Michigan. I was motivated to read, having waited for my vacation for months, but could not stay interested in this book for very long because in addition to the lengthy, wordy chapters, I found that almost any topic in this book could have been its own book. Instead, Ms. Klein touches briefly on the subject, throws a bunch of facts and statistics at you, and then moves on to the next topic. I am not faulting her for this; if she had spent as much time on each topic as I would have liked, the book would rival War & Peace for length. So not only is it way too wordy, it doesn't say very much.
Having said all of this, I did find some topics compelling enough to report about here. The best part of the book was here "tale of three logos", where she (rightfully so) derides Shell, Nike and McDonalds. I read with interest and disgust about the marketing practices of Nike. One particular scheme involves marketing their products to the inner city, knowing that kids will eventually resort to whatever it takes to get their products. But this isn't their biggest market; the big consumers will ultimately be the suburban youth who will want to emulate the inner city culture and will turn out in droves to buy Nike's products. I also loved reading about the McLibel trial, which I have followed for years. This trial involves two working class activists who protested outside of McDonalds restaurants in Great Britain. Their pamphlets told diners about how the "Golden Arches" impacts the community and the world: tales of animal cruelty, rain-forest depletion, waste production and poor labor conditions. McDonalds promptly sued them and the trial waged on for years. This entire affair is discussed in just a few short pages and, like most other topics, could have been a book in and of itself.
Despite my negative reporting of this book, I do think it is important inasmuch as it has spurred discussion about advertising, corporations, logos and branding. I would recommend that people will read through it and skim its contents and then focus on one or two topics of interest. The next step is up to you - do you want to go on being a mindless consumer, or do you want to start thinking about how each purchase you make impacts your environmental, your community and your planet? These are the kinds of discussions that I hope people have around this book.
For the discussion that I hope this book will generate amongst consumers, I give it 3.5 stars. For content, I give it 2 stars.