“A lively history” of how TV advertising became a defining force in American culture between 1946 and 1964(Technology and Culture). The two decades following World War II brought television into homes and, of course, television commercials. Those commercials, in turn, created an image of the postwar American Dream that lingers to this day. This book recounts how advertising became a part of everyday lives and national culture during this midcentury period, not only reflecting consumers’ desires but shaping them, and broadcasting a vivid portrait of comfort, abundance, ease, and happy family life and, of course, keeping up with the Joneses. As the author asserts, it’s nearly impossible to understand our culture without contemplating these visual celebrations of conformity and consumption, and this insightful, entertaining volume of social history helps us do just that.

"We all know the box was not the best invention for children. A recently released tome, The Impact of Television Advertising on Children reinforces our trepidations. Written by Shailaja Bajpai and Namita Unnikjrishnan and published by Sage, the researched work also alerts us to the hazards of consumerism that TV exposes innocent minds to." --Metropolis on Saturday "Questions the notion that children are mature enough to recognise the commercial intent of advertising. The book concludes that a child 'instinctively trusts the adult world1⁄4 consequently television, which is peopled by grown ups, inspires them with the faith that whatever appears on TV is real and not be doubted'." --Times of India "Meticulously researched, yes. Cogently argued, perhaps1⁄4. In many ways, this is a seminal book." --Business World "The Impact of Television Advertising on Children is a book that deserves to be read by all adults responsible in any way in shaping the life of children in their charge." --Times of India "An important point of view in the discussion about media responsibility. This research study is a welcome contribution to public discourse because it is calmly argued and eschews the fashionable tendency to bandy weather-beaten buzz words. The book will be valuable to anybody wanting to understand how television bends the mind, because although Unnikrishnan and Bajpai focus on children, the scope of the work includes and informed analysis of the medium itself." --Newstime "This is a timely book. Also a useful one. In fact, a given its capsule format and its passion for facts, statistics and tables, it is really more a book to be used by professionals of various kinds. Some kinds of data that they have chosen to elicit... would be of interest to advertisers.... Of interesting data there is plenty. In essence, this is a field study, the first to be put out by a major publisher on the specific topic of children and television advertising in India." --Biblio "A seminal study.... The most complete analysis yet of the child as consumer." --Business Today The manner in which ideas conveyed by television programs and advertising shape our children's consciousness is of growing concern in India and throughout the world today. Children, the most impressionable of any group, are continually targeted by the media, and despite the rapid proliferation of television in India, there is little informed research on its effects on India's "littlest consumers." Based on in-depth interviews with over 730 children between the ages of 5 and 15, The Impact of Television Advertising on Children highlights the impact that TV has on the values, attitudes, and aspirations of Indian children. The book provides an insight into the lives of children from different social strata, and their respective ways of handling, negotiating, and understanding information made available to them over television. In particular, the authors closely examine children's view on advertising and what it means to them in their lives. This lively book, the first of its kind pertaining to India, draws the reader into a healthy questioning of the role of television and advertising in society. Lucidly written, it will be of great interest to academics, researchers, and professionals in mass communication, media studies, sociology, and social psychology and to all those concerned with the impact that television advertising has on our lives.