Desolated city
The book begins with the description of the city of Baltimore in the 90s, a time when an outbreak of syphilis affected the city and its people. The author mentions possible reasons that a new outbreak appeared and while analyzing the contributing factors, he paints Baltimore as being a city populated by promiscuous characters, people of questionable character who through their lifestyle impact in a negative way the life of those who live near them.
The need to be sticky
When the author talks about what makes information powerful, he mentions the fact that the information or the method has to be sticky. Through this, the author transmits the idea that a piece of information must be attractive and also to have the power to keep the ‘’victim’’ in after he or she became enchanted by the information. The image transmitted here is that of a trap that once pulls its victim in, it refuses to let it go until it consumes it completely.
Tibetan monk
In the sixth chapter, the author mentions a company named Airwalk that became successful as a result of their ad campaigns. The author mentions a particular ad campaign which portrayed a Tibetan monk wearing Airwalk shoes. The ad was extremely successful and the shoes became popular with the people coming from Tibet who could identify themselves with the person in the ad. Through the image described here, the author wants to prove that in most cases, the companies are willing to do anything to become successful and to attract as many people as possible.
Glamorous people
When the author analyzes the reasons that the American children began smoking excessively, he reached the conclusion that it was partially because the media promoted a certain image of a smoker. In the ads and other advertising pieces, the person who smoked was usually a mature person, capable of getting whatever he or she wanted and extremely sexual. Also, many people from the media and television stars also were shown smoking and the public associated success with smoking. Because of this, the American society had to deal with a smoking pandemic, affecting the children and the young people in the country.
