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J. Gordon Lippincott was an advertising consultant who was involved in the creation of some of the most recognizable American branding and advertising, including the Campbell’s soup label, the Chrysler logo, the Betty Crocker spoon, and the General Mills “G.” Beyond his firm’s creations, he is perhaps best known for helping to spread the idea of consumerism in the United States, a movement that many Americans embraced (although there were prominent critics like Vance Packard). Previously, thrift had been considered one of the most important American qualities, but Lippincott helped promote the opposite idea, that in fact it was right and patriotic to buy new things and to throw out old things even before they were all used up. Many, including Garbology author Edward Humes, believe that the U.S.’s current trash crisis can be traced back directly to the consumerism promoted by people like Lippincott, who emphasized the short-term joys of buying new things without considering the long-term consequences of a wasteful lifestyle. In this way, Lippincott represents the dangers of not planning for the future.
J. Gordon Lippincott Quotes in Garbology
The Garbology quotes below are all either spoken by J. Gordon Lippincott or refer to J. Gordon Lippincott . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 3
Quotes
His life’s work, like that of the marketing and design industries he helped create and lead, was dedicated to preventing that from happening, to erase thrift as a quintessential American virtue, and replace it with conspicuous consumption powered by a kind of magical thinking, in which the well would never go dry, the bubble would never burst, oil and all forms of energy would grow cheaper and more plentiful with time, and the landfill would never fill up.
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Explanation and Analysis:
This rise of consumerism and the new American Dream launched during television’s golden age was accompanied by another trash-boosting trend—the plasticization of America.
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J. Gordon Lippincott Quotes in Garbology
The Garbology quotes below are all either spoken by J. Gordon Lippincott or refer to J. Gordon Lippincott . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 3
Quotes
His life’s work, like that of the marketing and design industries he helped create and lead, was dedicated to preventing that from happening, to erase thrift as a quintessential American virtue, and replace it with conspicuous consumption powered by a kind of magical thinking, in which the well would never go dry, the bubble would never burst, oil and all forms of energy would grow cheaper and more plentiful with time, and the landfill would never fill up.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
This rise of consumerism and the new American Dream launched during television’s golden age was accompanied by another trash-boosting trend—the plasticization of America.
