Marcel Danesi is an entertaining and insightful tour guide to decoding the messages woven into the advertisements, commercials, brand names, and logos we see on a daily basis. Guiding readers through the basics of how to interpret ads, Danesi explores everything from product and package design to jingles, cyberadvertising, ad campaigns, global impacts, culture jamming, and advertising effects. Why It Sells will fascinate and inform all readers interested in how ads, marketing, and branding take hold in the consumer psyche.

Author Biography

Marcel Danesi is professor of anthropology, semiotics, and communication theory at the University of Toronto. His books include My Son Is an Alien: A Cultural Portrait of Today's Youth and Cool: The Signs and Meanings of Adolescence, and he is the editor-in-chief of Semiotica.