We're living in the Age of Persuasion. Leaders and organizations of all kinds public and private, large and small fulfill their missions only by competing in the marketplace of images and messages. To win in that marketplace, they need advertising. This has been true since the advent of mass media, from mass-circulation magazines and radio through the age of television and the Internet. Yet even as they use advertising to capture consumers' imaginations and build their brands, few people know of the ingenious and tormented man who built the modern advertising industry and shaped a new consumer sensibility as the twentieth century unfolded: Albert D. Lasker. Drawing on a recently uncovered trove of Lasker's papers, Jeffrey Cruikshank and Arthur Schultz have written a fascinating biography of one of the past century's most influential, intriguing, troubled, and instructive figures. Lasker's creative and powerful use of "reason-why" advertising to inject ideas and arguments into ad campaigns had a profound impact on modern advertising, foreshadowing the consumer-centered "unique selling proposition" approach that dominates the industry today. His tactics helped launch or revitalize companies and brands that remain household names including Palmolive, Goodyear, and Quaker Oats. As Lasker rose in prominence, he went beyond consumer products to apply his brilliance to presidential politics, government service, and professional sports, changing the game wherever he went, and building a vast fortune along the way. But his intensity had a price he was felled by mental breakdowns throughout his life. This book also tells the story of how he fought back with determination and with support from family and friends in an age when lack of effective treatment doomed most mentally ill people. The Man Who Sold America is a riveting account of a man larger than life, who shaped not only an industry but also a century.
杰弗里·库鲁圣，作家、编辑、顾问，库鲁圣公司的联合创始人，出版或与他人共同出版过数十部著作。
阿瑟·舒尔茨，现代广告史专家，于1971年至1982年间担任博达大桥公司（拉斯克尔的洛德暨托马斯公司的继任公司）执行总裁。他见过拉斯克尔本人，也认识拉斯克尔家族的许多成员。他从洛德暨托马斯获取了众多内部文件、报告和信件，为本书的写作提供了极大便利。