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'''Vance Oakley Packard''' (1914-1996) was a journalist, author, and social critic born in 1914 in Granville Summit, Pennsylvania. He earned his undergraduate degree in English in 1936 at Penn State, and earned his master's degree in journalism 1937 at Columbia University.<ref>http://pabook.libraries.psu.edu/palitmap/bios/Packard__Vance_Oakley.html</ref> As a journalist, Packard worked for the ''Center Daily Times'', the ''Boston Daily Record'', the ''American Magazine'', and ''Collier's''.<ref>http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/information/biography/pqrst/packard_vance.html</ref>
'''Vance Oakley Packard''' (1914-1996) was a journalist, author, and social critic born in 1914 in Granville Summit, [[Pennsylvania]]. He earned his undergraduate degree in English in 1936 at Penn State, and earned his master's degree in [[journalism]] 1937 at [[Columbia University]].<ref>http://pabook.libraries.psu.edu/palitmap/bios/Packard__Vance_Oakley.html</ref> As a journalist, Packard worked for the ''Center Daily Times'', the ''Boston Daily Record'', the ''American Magazine'', and ''Collier's''.<ref>http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/information/biography/pqrst/packard_vance.html</ref>
In 1957, Packard launched his career as an author and public speaker with his publication of the bestseller on advertising, ''The Hidden Persuaders''. Among other aspects of advertising, the book discussed so-called "motivational research" or "depth psychology" advertising, attempts by advertisers to influence consumers on a subconscious level.<ref>http://www.answers.com/topic/vance-packard</ref> After the success of ''The Hidden Persuaders'' Packard went on to publish several other books, almost all of them dealing with sociological issues or social criticism.
In 1957, Packard launched his career as an author and public speaker with his publication of the bestseller on [[advertising]], ''The Hidden Persuaders''. Among other aspects of advertising, the book discussed so-called "motivational research" or "depth psychology" advertising, attempts by advertisers to influence consumers on a subconscious level.<ref>http://www.answers.com/topic/vance-packard</ref> After the success of ''The Hidden Persuaders'' Packard went on to publish several other books, almost all of them dealing with sociological issues or social criticism.
Packard died at the age of 82 in Martha's Vineyard Massachusetts.
Packard died at the age of 82 in Martha's Vineyard Massachusetts.
==Relevance Today==
Packard's books are still read today, and his first book, 'The Hidden Persuaders'', is currently in print again for its 50 year anniversary.<ref>http://www.amazon.com/Hidden-Persuaders-Vance-Packard/dp/097884310X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1299119679&sr=8-1</ref> Though there is a certain datedness in some of Packard's writing (not surprising considering its age) some of it appears remarkably prescient.
His 1960 book ''The Waste Makers'' is particularly so. In it, he discusses how products are designed cheaply in order to prompt consumers to buy replacements; how the lifetime of major products such as appliances and electronics was already declining, compared to the early 1950s; how people were going into debt in order to buy; and how excessive [[consumerism]] threatened the American character. He also suggested that we might one day mine [[landfill]]s to recover scare resources; though first implemented even earlier than 1960, landfill mining has only recently actually been attempted and discussed on a large scale.
Some of Packard's other books, such as ''The Sexual Wilderness'' dealing with the upheaval in relationships due to the [[Sexual Revolution]], address issues that are still discussed and debated today.
==Bibliography==
==Bibliography==
*''The Hidden Persuaders'' (1957; overview and critique of advertising)
*''The Status Seekers'' (1959; discussion of class and class division in America)
*''The Waste Makers'' (1960; critique of consumerism and planned obsolescence)
*''The Sexual Wilderness: The Contemporary Upheaval in Male-Female Relationships'' (1968; discusses the changes in relationships due to the Sexual Revolution of the 1960s)
*''The Ultra Rich: How Much is too Much?'' (1989)
==References==
==References==
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