How the Cadillac Got Its Fins: And Other Tales from the Annals of Business and Marketing by Jack Mingo


How the Cadillac Got Its Fins: And Other Tales from the Annals of Business and Marketing
Title : How the Cadillac Got Its Fins: And Other Tales from the Annals of Business and Marketing
Author :
Rating :
ISBN : 0887307531
ISBN-10 : 9780887307539
Language : English
Format Type : Paperback
Number of Pages : 228
Publication : First published June 1, 1994

From the bestselling author of The Whole Pop Catalog and The Couch Potato Guide to Life comes this entertaining look at the true, often bizarre, and entertaining stories behind the invention and marketing of our most familiar and cherished products. Prepare to be captivated.--Entrepreneur magazine.

How the Cadillac Got Its Fins: And Other Tales from the Annals of Business and Marketing Reviews

  • Caroline

    A little dated now (published 1995) but the back stories of marketing campaigns, products and company origins are very interesting.

  • Tracey

    I bought How the Cadillac Got Its Fins: And Other True Tales from the Annals of Business and Marketing a few years ago while perusing the Pop Culture section of a bookstore & decided to pick it up for a re-read.

    Jack Mingo tells the stories of "eccentrics, weirdos, kooks and wackos" whose products or advertising schemes have become household names in the US. Jobs & Wozniak's Apple Computer saga start the book; other tales include Harley Earl & his radical re-design of the GM product line (the source of the title); the history of (& enmity between) Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola; Elsie, the Borden Cow & Chiquita Banana as good-will mascots; and the creator of the Sugar Daddy also being father of the John Birch Society.

    Each chapter is only a few pages long; which means the full story is condensed down into its highlights. Mingo has no endnotes or bibliography section (not even an index - just a table of contents with cutely-named chapters). He presents both the Chevrolet Nova = "no va" and Coca-Cola in Chinese = "bite the wax tadpole" urban legends as truth, which for me, throws his research into question.

    Recommended for intro-level reading about the history behind selected businesses & advertising campaigns; but delve deeper if you're interested in any particular story.

  • Linda

    fun read