Within the last 150 years, for the first time in human history, it became widely possible to produce more than was demanded and to offer more than was needed. Advertising was a response to surplus.

Mass consumption inspired "more social egalitarianism, more democratic participation and more political freedom." But there were still rampant social inequalities, and the increasing interest in selling products to "segmented" markets -- markets divided by age, income, race and interest -- eventually led to a segmented citizenry. We live in the fractured and privatized society that was a result.

... In 1897 the promise of an Oldsmobile ad was hardly reassuring: "Practically noiseless and impossible to explode." ...