Vance Packard
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Vance Oakley Packard (May 22, 1914 – December 12, 1996) was an American journalist and social critic. He was the author of several books, including ''The Hidden Persuaders'' and '' The Naked Society''. He was a critic of consumerism.


Early life

Vance Packard was born on May 22, 1914, in Granville Summit, Pennsylvania, to Philip J. Packard and Mabel Case Packard. Between 1920 and 1932, he attended local public schools in State College, Pennsylvania, where his father managed a
dairy farm Dairy farming is a class of agriculture for the long-term production of milk, which is processed (either on the farm or at a dairy plant, either of which may be called a dairy) for the eventual sale of a dairy product. Dairy farming has a h ...
owned by the Pennsylvania State College (later Penn State University). He identified himself as a "farm boy" throughout his life, although he moved to State College and in later life lived in affluent areas. In 1932, he entered
Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...
, where he earned a B.A. degree, majoring in English. He graduated in 1936, and worked briefly for the local newspaper, the '' Centre Daily Times''. He earned his master's degree at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 1937.


Career

Packard joined the ''Boston Daily Record'' as a staff reporter in 1937. He became a reporter for the
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...
around 1940, and in 1942, joined the staff of '' The American Magazine'' as a section editor, later becoming a staff writer. That periodical closed in July, 1956, and Packard became a writer at ''
Collier's } ''Collier's'' was an American general interest magazine founded in 1888 by Peter F. Collier, Peter Fenelon Collier. It was launched as ''Collier's Once a Week'', then renamed in 1895 as ''Collier's Weekly: An Illustrated Journal'', shortened i ...
''. After its closing by the end of the year, he devoted his full attention to developing book-length projects of his own. Halfway into the next year, his ''The Hidden Persuaders'' was published to national attention, launching him into a career as a full-time social critic, lecturing and developing further books. He was a critic of consumerism, which he viewed as an attack on the traditional American way of life. In July 2020, an academic description reported on the nature and rise of the " robot prosumer", derived from modern-day technology and related participatory culture, that, in turn, had been predicted substantially by science fiction writers, as well as Packard.


''The Hidden Persuaders''

In ''The Hidden Persuaders'', first published in 1957, Packard explored advertisers' use of consumer motivational research and other psychological techniques, including depth psychology and subliminal tactics, to manipulate expectations and induce desire for products, particularly in the American postwar era. He identified eight "compelling needs" that advertisers promise products will fulfill (Emotional Security, Reassurance of worth, Ego gratification, Creative outlets, Love objects, Sense of power, Roots, Immortality). According to Packard, these needs are so strong that people are compelled to buy products merely to satisfy those needs. The book also explores the manipulative techniques of promoting politicians to the electorate. Additionally, the book questions the morality of using these techniques.Gordon Di Renzo (1958) ''The American Catholic Sociological Review'', Vol. 19, No. 4 (Dec., 1958) (Review) While the book was a top-seller among middle-class audiences, it was widely criticised by marketing researchers and advertising executives as carrying a sensationalist tone and containing unsubstantiated assertions.


''The Naked Society''

In his 1964 book called ''The Naked Society'', Packard criticized advertisers' unfettered use of private information to create marketing schemes. He compared a recent Great Society initiative by then-president Lyndon B. Johnson, the National Data Bank, to the use of information by advertisers and argued for increased data privacy measures to ensure that information did not find its way into the wrong hands. The essay led Congress to create the Special Subcommittee on the Invasion of Privacy and inspired privacy advocates such as Neil Gallagher and
Sam Ervin Samuel James Ervin Jr. (September 27, 1896April 23, 1985) was an American politician who served as a U.S. Senator from North Carolina from 1954 to 1974. A Southern Democrat, he liked to call himself a " country lawyer", and often told humorous ...
to fight Johnson's flagrant disregard for consumer privacy.


Personal life and death

Packard was married to Virginia Matthews; they had two sons and a daughter. They resided in New Canaan, Connecticut and Martha's Vineyard. He died in 1996 at the Martha's Vineyard Hospital.


Publications

* 1946 ''How to Pick a Mate'' – a guide co-authored with the head of the Penn State marriage counseling service * 1950 ''Animal IQ: The Human Side of Animals'' – a popular paperback on animal intelligence * 1957 ''The Hidden Persuaders'' – on the
advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a Product (business), product or Service (economics), service. Advertising aims to present a product or service in terms of utility, advantages, and qualities of int ...
industry – the first of a popular series of books on sociology topics () * 1959 ''The Status Seekers'' – describing American social stratification and behavior * 1960 '' The Waste Makers'' – criticizes planned obsolescence describing the impact of American productivity, especially on the national character * 1960 ''Oh, Happy, Happy, Happy'' – foreword by Vance Packard, with Charles Saxon * 1962 ''The Pyramid Climbers'' – describes the changing impact of American enterprise on managers, the structured lives of corporate executives and the conformity they need to advance in the hierarchy * 1964 '' The Naked Society'' – on the threats to
privacy Privacy (, ) is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves, and thereby express themselves selectively. The domain of privacy partially overlaps with security, which can include the concepts of a ...
posed by new technologies such as computerized filing, modern
surveillance Surveillance is the monitoring of behavior, many activities, or information for the purpose of information gathering, influencing, managing, or directing. This can include observation from a distance by means of electronic equipment, such as ...
techniques and methods for influencing human
behavior Behavior (American English) or behaviour (British English) is the range of actions of Individual, individuals, organisms, systems or Artificial intelligence, artificial entities in some environment. These systems can include other systems or or ...
* 1968 ''The Sexual Wilderness'' – on the sexual revolution of the 1960s and changes in male-female relationships * 1972 ''A Nation of Strangers'' – about the attrition of communal structure through frequent geographical transfers of corporate executives * 1977 ''The People Shapers'' – on the use of psychological & biological testing and experimentation to manipulate human behavior * 1983 ''Our Endangered Children'' – discusses growing up in a changing world, warning that American preoccupation with money, power, status, and sex ignored the needs of future generations * 1989 '' The Ultra Rich: How Much Is Too Much? '' – examines the lives of thirty American multimillionaires and their extravagances


See also

* Brainwashing * History of advertising * History of marketing *
Marketing research Marketing research is the systematic gathering, recording, and analysis of qualitative data, qualitative and quantitative data, quantitative data about issues relating to marketing products and services. The goal is to identify and assess how chan ...


Further reading


The Salon Dec 17, 1996
The Hidden Persuader * Horowitz, D. (2009) Vance Packard and American Social Criticism (University of North Carolina Press Enduring Editions) * * *


References


External links





{{DEFAULTSORT:Packard, Vance Privacy activists Activists from Connecticut Activists from Massachusetts Activists from Pennsylvania 1914 births 1996 deaths People from Bradford County, Pennsylvania People from New Canaan, Connecticut People from Martha's Vineyard Pennsylvania State University alumni Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism alumni Advertising theorists American male journalists 20th-century American journalists 20th-century American economists 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American male writers Writers from Massachusetts Writers from Pennsylvania