Editorial Introduction

This issue brings three original pieces. The first is Jean Grow and Sheri Broyles' "Unspoken Rules of the Creative Game," which attempts, as have others, to understand the continuing gender inequity in the creative departments of ad agencies, a social stratification that many believe explains the low humor and sexism typical of many categories of advertising.

Jeffrey Johnson's "The Curious Tale of the Polish Plumber," presents an interesting twist on nation branding by telling the story of the "Polish Plumber" campaign that addressed French prejudice against Poland entering the European Union. This clever campaign, which featured a sexy Polish plumber as a counterpoint to the crude stereotype that animated resistance to the inclusion of Poland in the EU, is credited with a turnaround in political views, but also an increase in tourism from France to Poland.

Last is a review of a new and highly recommended book by Lawrence R. Samuel. This work, Freud on Madison Avenue, takes an even-handed and well-documented approach to a sensational topic: the growth of motivation research behind the burgeoning consumer culture of the 1950s. After all the sensational treatment of this topic, from Vance Packard's The Hidden Persuaders to Wilson Bryan Key's Subliminal Seduction, Samuel's very serious and enlightening treatment is long overdue and very welcome.