Boomer Brands: Iconic Brands that Shaped Our Childhood

Silverstein (Let’s Make Money, Honey), a business writer and former marketing and brand management consultant, explores the way in which brands “tunneled their way” into the consciousness of the Baby Boomer generation. In 14 breezy but highly informative chapters, Silverstein covers various product categories that were popular during the Boomer childhood years, from breakfast cereals of the 1950s to early “green” products arising from the environmental movement in the ’60s. Silverstein’s observations are rooted in his argument that “the advertising industry pushed brand management to new heights” by making a “real emotional connection” between consumers and products. He explains how Frosted Flakes, for example, used cartoon characters to develop children’s affection for the product (which was “generally accepted to be the forerunner of the sugary cereal brands”). He also explores how the powdered breakfast drink Tang used the popularity of NASA to pitch itself as “a space-age drink” after astronauts drank it in space. Perhaps the most interesting section is a year-by-year list of the various consumer developments from 1946 to 1964, the peak of the baby boom: 1949, for example, saw the introduction of Clearasil, Dunkin’ Donuts, and the television remote control. Silverstein’s slim book is a delightful journey through a time that saw “the birth of the modern brand.” (BookLife)