Educational Media Reviews Online

The Selling Game reveals both the fascinating and the insidious sides of consumer-generated advertising.

The film credits Fritz Grobe and Stephen Voltz and their popular Mentos-Diet Coke internet video with ushering in a new age of user-driven marketing and advertising. Their story shows how familiar products, simple creativity, and readily accessible technology have converged to put image-making power into the hands of ordinary people. Other examples such as amateur ads and interactive contests demonstrate the changing dynamic in the advertising industry.

The Selling Game effectively underscores the vast contrast between old and new marketing methods. As evidenced in footage of early television spots and testimonials from ad executives, gone are the days of limited venues and captive audiences. Multimedia and diversity are the new realities of advertising.

The home-grown trend in advertising may seem empowering, but as The Selling Game illustrates, market researchers still wield a great deal of control in reaching consumers. One executive shares how they covertly track the public’s online activities and base selling strategies on this data. Another demonstrates how they use brain scans to determine emotions associated with buying patterns.

The Selling Game raises a number of issues that have legal and ethical implications. A primary concern is how advertisers harness science and technology to track what consumers say, think, and do.

Highly recommended for academic and public libraries, is also an excellent resource for business, mass communications, and social science courses.