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|| ix ACKNOWLEDGMENTS When you decide to write a book about contemporary branding, it inevitably ends up being a collaborative effort. As I argue throughout this book, everyone has some relationship with branding, and almost everyone has something to say about this relationship. I am grateful for the opportunity here to offer my thanks and appreciation to the many friends and colleagues who have directed me toward branding references, sent me links and examples, challenged my thinking about branding, and listened patiently while I tested out ideas. A few folks deserve special mention for their crucial role in supporting and encouraging me to take on this admittedly huge project. I am immensely grateful to my cherished friend and colleague Josh Kun. From the moment I began thinking of branding and culture, he encouraged me, supported me, heard me out, connected me with sources, read drafts, gave me helpful and honest feedback. To quote one of his favorite pop stars: my life would suck without you. I have also had the singular pleasure of establishing a profound friendship with Inna Arzumanova over the course of the past five years. She is truly one of the most intellectually and emotionally generous people I know. She read every word of this book—many times over!—and offered brilliant feedback. As the kids say, 4LYFE, sister. Daniela Baroffio is a wonderful friend, and I am so grateful she is in my life. I simply could not have completed this project if not for our time together, solving our problems, and those of the world. I deeply appreciate her love and friendship. Eric Zinner, my editor at NYU Press, encouraged me from the beginnings of this project . He was instrumental in my thinking through this book, from his initial “Well, it’s not quite there, keep working on it” to the editing of the final chapters. He is not only an extraordinary editor but also a cherished friend. Of course, I have other lives outside of the academy and beyond this project , and the maintenance of these other lives and roles made completing this book possible. My mother was quite ill at both the beginning and the end of this project. I was only able to finish this book because of the tireless energy and generosity of my sister Suzannah Collins, who stepped in and took care of literally everything. I am forever grateful to her. There are some friends and colleagues who read entire earlier drafts of this book; their feedback has immeasurably improved the final version . Larry Gross offered helpful comments and histories to consider, and x || Acknowledgments his support and intellectual generosity over the past ten years have been invaluable to me; not for nothing, I asked Dana Polan for his feedback, and as always, he provided helpful critiques and insights (particularly on the word “particular”); Steve Duncombe has had the unfortunate luck of being asked to read practically everything I have written in the past five years—I, on the other hand, have had the incredible good fortune of benefiting from his sharp insight and inspirational politics; Laurie Oullette, who continually offered brilliant feedback and whose own creative work on branding has been key to this project; and Nitin Govil, with whom I became friends later in the project, generously gave his unique insight and suggestions. Others read portions of the book and generously offered their expertise and feedback. Manuel Castells has been part of this project since the beginning; our brainstorming sessions about branding and possibility shaped the direction of this book. His generosity and kindness toward me, from inviting me to be a part of the Aftermath group in Portugal to title suggestions to his gentle pushing me to think through ideas, have been invaluable to me, as a scholar and a friend. I thank Henry Jenkins for his insightful and tough read of several chapters, which helped so much in honing my argument. Diane Winston and Jane Iwamura were key readers of chapter 5, offering crucial critique of my take on the branding of religion. Marita Sturken has been, as always, a wonderful friend and confidante, and her work on consumer culture continues to be an inspiration to me. Aniko Imre read an early draft of the introduction and gave helpful feedback (along with supportive reassurance about parenting and academic life!), and Macarena Gomez-Barris gave insightful critique of chapter 3 as well as the introduction. Cynthia Chris read a version of the introduction and gave valuable feedback on...

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