Last week my friend Jenny McCutcheon from Exconsumer.com released her first e-book titled Wake up-Break free from advertising influences. I had Jenny on the Debt Free Living podcast to share her family’s story of getting out of debt. But today I would like to review her book and share some thoughts that I took from it.
Jenny has earned her degree in eMarketing, so she knows her stuff, and it really shows in this book. I think we all know that we live in the most marketed culture ever and that marketing can have both positive and negative impacts on us. But Wake up is a real eye opener into how marketers are trying to get us to think a certain way about a product. Jenny first breaks down the difference between marketing and advertising. I knew from my marketing classes in college that they were different but this was a great reminder. Next the book goes into our culture’s addiction to consumption and delves further into why that is. It is very sobering and scary to realize that there are large companies out there that have departments solely dedicated to making me feel that I need to consume their product to feel good about myself!
What really got my attention, however, was the chapter on marketing to young children. As a father to a 9-month-old son, reading Wake up brought to light the fact that children today are exposed to marketing at such a young age. As a parent, I need to realize that my child will be marketed to no matter how much I try to shield him away from it. But I can limit it and teach my son to realize that he does not need every new shiny toy or to eat fast food for every meal.
All in all, Wake up is a great book that I highly recommend. It is a quick read, packed full of interesting facts, useful statistics, and things that you might never have considered. You can purchase the PDF book on her website * as well subscribe to Jenny’s blog. As a financial coach I have realized that a lot of misspending is done because of clever marketing that tricks us into thinking that a want is a need. So knowing how the marketers are targeting us and being able to resist their message is a key point in handling your finances better.
Have you read Wake Up? If so please let me know your thoughts below in the comment section.
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Hey Jon!
Thank you so much for the wonderful review of Wake Up.
As you know, I’m also a parent. That’s why I’m so cautious about the advertising messages huge companies use to target young children. And while it’s impossible to completely avoid the messages, it’s helpful to recognize where the messages are coming from and then limit exposure from those sources. Or, if our children are old enough, we can educate them on how to interpret an advertising message.
I loved you discussed this in the book Jenny. Yes, our children will be marketed to, but knowing where the marketing is coming from and trying to limit it and teach our children how to interpret the advertisement is important.