Hi I’m Douglas Burdett, host of The Marketing Book Podcast and I’d like to tell you about the book “BadMen: How Advertising Went From A Minor Annoyance To A Major Menace” by Bob Hoffman.
Bob Hoffman is the author of the popular, irreverent and influential “Ad Contrarian” blog. He’s also the the author of the hilarious and insightful book “Marketers Are From Mars, Consumers Are From New Jersey.”
In “BadMen”, Hoffman reminds us of our longstanding fear of totalitarian governments. We’ve always feared they would know everything about us, follow us everywhere, track our every move, and keep secret files about us which could be used to influence our lives in ways that were only vaguely visible to us.
The problem is that we’re well on our way to such a nightmare. Except it isn’t our government that knows everything about us, follows us everywhere, tracks our every move, and keep secret files about us. It’s the marketing industry, and when you read the book you’ll be astonished at how much more information is being collected about you than you realize.
“BadMen” is about “surveillance marketing” which is powered largely by advertisers through the tracking of our movements on the web via what’s known as “ad tech.” Another big topic in the book is the subject of online ad fraud. According to the World Federation of Advertisers, by 2025 online ad fraud, enabled substantially by tracking, may become the second largest source of criminal income in the world.
If you’re an advertiser who feels like you’ve been hemorrhaging money with online ads, you’ll want to read “BadMen”. You’ll be thoroughly entertained. You’ll be angered. And you’ll want to call for change.
And to listen to an interview with Bob Hoffman about “BadMen”, visit https://www.artillerymarketing.com/marketing-book-podcast/badmen-bob-hoffman
