John Wanamaker famously observed that "half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is, I don't know which half." Indeed, though advertising is pervasive in our society, how it works (if and when it works) is not a question most of us can answer. In this Very Short Introduction, Winston Fletcher, a seasoned advertising veteran with extensive inside knowledge, offers an illuminating look at this billion-dollar business, dispelling some of the myths and misunderstandings surrounding the industry. Fletcher offers a short history of advertising and explains how the industry works and how each of the parties--the advertisers, the media, and the agencies--contribute to the process. He also looks at the financial side of advertising and asks how today's Wanamakers know if they have been successful, or whether their money has in fact been wasted. The book concludes with a discussion of controversial and unacceptable areas of advertising, such as advertising aimed at children and the promotion of products such as cigarettes and alcohol.

约翰·瓦纳梅克有句名言：“我花在广告上的钱有一半是浪费的；问题是，我不知道是哪一半。“事实上，尽管广告在我们的社会中很普遍，但它如何运作（如果运作以及何时运作）并不是我们大多数人都能回答的问题。在这个非常简短的介绍，温斯顿弗莱彻，一位经验丰富的广告业老手，拥有丰富的内部知识，提供了一个启发性的看法，在这个数十亿美元的业务，消除了一些神话和误解，围绕该行业。弗莱彻提供了一个简短的广告史，并解释了该行业是如何运作的，以及各方——广告商、媒体和代理商——是如何为这个过程做出贡献的。他还研究了广告的财务方面，并询问当今的广告制作者如何知道他们是否成功，或者他们的钱是否真的被浪费了。这本书最后讨论了有争议和不可接受的广告领域，例如针对儿童的广告以及香烟和酒精等产品的促销。