Vance Packard
Vance Packard was an influential American author and social critic known for his exploration of consumerism and societal behaviors in the mid-20th century. Born into a religious farming family, he developed his journalistic skills through student publications at Pennsylvania State University and worked as a feature writer for various magazines before embarking on a successful writing career. Packard's notable works, beginning in 1956, include best-sellers like "The Hidden Persuaders," where he examined how advertisers manipulate consumer desires through psychological tactics. His subsequent books, "The Status Seekers" and "The Waste Makers," further critiqued the pursuit of status symbols and the culture of waste associated with fashion trends. While some critics argued that his views were exaggerated, Packard's ideas resonated with many Americans grappling with feelings of unfulfillment despite material wealth. His writings laid the groundwork for future critiques of consumer culture, influencing later social critics like Rachel Carson and Ralph Nader. Through his work, Packard contributed significantly to the discourse on the implications of consumerism in American society.
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Subject Terms
Vance Packard
- Born: May 22, 1914
- Birthplace: Granville Summit, Pennsylvania
- Died: December 12, 1996
- Place of death: Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts
Identification American writer and social critic
A major critic of consumerism, Vance Packard argued that the manipulations of advertisers and the pursuit of status symbols inspired Americans to fritter away their 1950’s-era wealth in mindless attempts to satisfy unconscious wants and alleviate unconscious fears.
The youngest of three children in a religious farming family, Packard honed his journalistic skills on student publications at Pennsylvania State University and spent his early career as a feature writer for magazines. He began his book-writing career writing nonfiction with sociological themes in 1956 and produced three best-sellers in a row.
InThe Hidden Persuaders (1957), Packard argued that advertisers, guided by motivational research, create pseudo-needs, which link products to unconscious wants and fears. He argued that such manipulations were needed in economies that produce and sell unneeded products.
Packard’s The Status Seekers: An Exploration of Class Behavior in America and the Hidden Barriers That Affect You, Your Community, Your Future (1959) placed the symbols of status among those pseudo-needs he explored in his prior book. The relentless pursuit of arbitrary status symbols, he charged, nourishes and even intensifies class divisions in the United States. In the The Waste Makers (1960), he cited the wastefulness that results from consumers’ tendency to throw away products when trends turn and the products become obsolescent or unfashionable.
Although Packard continued to critique consumerism and mass marketing, none of his post-1960 works of social criticism approached the impact of his 1950’s best-sellers.
Impact
Packard was among several writers of the 1950’s who pointed out the dark side of America’s postwar affluent society. Critics charged that his thesis was overstated, yet it resonated with an increasing number of Americans who could afford all their material needs and still felt unfulfilled. Packard’s writings anticipated those of later, more intense and focused critics such as Rachel Carson and Ralph Nader.
Bibliography
Cohen, Elizabeth. A Consumer’s Republic: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar America. New York: Knopf, 2003. Examines the way in which affluence and consumerism were linked to issues of citizenship (the encouragement to buy for “the good of the nation”) in postwar America.
Horowitz, David. American Social Classes in the 1950’s: Selections from Vance Packard’s “The Status Seekers.” New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1995. Provides excerpts from The Status Seekers and an introduction by Horowitz that places Packard in the context of 1950’s social criticism.
Horowitz, David. Vance Packard and American Social Criticism. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1994. A comprehensive review of Packard’s life and works in the context of the era.