You have to go behind the billboards to understand what’s happening in America. So said the novelist Nelson Algren, as sharp a social critic of the culture as H.L. Mencken ever was. Seems to me that the British author A. Robert Lee would agree with Algren. But he has taken it upon himself to cite the billboards themselves as diagnostic proof. In his new book BUY THIS! — composed entirely of commercials and slogans (little brothers of those billboards) — Lee draws from the widest possible array of sources to make us think . . . and, with a knowing wink, smile.
Counsel from the PROLOGUE
You can tell the ideals of a nation by its advertisements.
Norman Douglas
Wisdom from the INTRODUCTION
Advertising is the greatest art form of the 20th century. Advertising is all good news. A huge environment of surfaces.
Marshall McLuhan
Maxim from ROLL THE COMMERCIALS
It is to be believed because it is absurd.
Tertullian
In the chapter TIME’S UP, Lee puts his point like so:
Quick look at the wristwatch and you’re up on the time of day or night, the date, even in some cases, your blood pressure, or the number of steps trodden since breakfast. And no shortage of commercial helpmates.
Seiko. Always One Step Ahead of the Rest. Alive in Time.
Rolex. Elevate Your Style.
Omega. Born to Be Legend.
TAG Heuer. I’m Designed to Win.
Tissot. Innovators by Tradition.
Breitling. Welcome to My World.
Bulgari. Unexpected Wonders.
Citizen.Every Second Counts.
Paul Picot. Artisan Horologer Suisse
Versace. Timeless and Iconic.
Hublot. Big Bang Collection.
Lacroix. Our Savoir Faire.
Lorentz. It’s Time to Restyle.
Longines. Elegance and Attitude.
Cartier. The Fabulous Cartier House.
Timex.It Takes a Licking and Keeps on Ticking.
Swatch. What If . . . ?
Tudor. Watches That Go the Distance.
Lee’s book calls to mind the work of another (but dirtier) satirist, my ol’ friend, the late, great collagist Norman O. Mustill, whose visual take on the culture is a kind of match.
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