"Such products as Coca-Cola, Cracker Jacks, Levi's jeans, and TV dinners have gone beyond the world of business to enter our collective consciousness, while such marketing devices as the Pillsbury Dough-Boy, Chiquita Banana, Elsie the Cow, and the Marlboro man have become cultural icons. In How the Cadillac Got Its Fins, Jack Mingo traces the surprising, unbelievable, and amazing stories behind the invention and marketing of many of the products and companies that shape our lives." "Among the many revelations in How the Cadillac Got Its Fins are: the truth about Spam, without actually having to eat it; how the founders of Apple Computer really first went into business (Hint: The FBI would not have approved); where Jell-O came from and what it's really made of; how Marlboro cigarettes received a marketing sex change; how the Life Saver got its hole (Hint: It was not intentional); how few videos MTV actually had when it started, and the identity of the aging British rocker who was featured in an inordinate number of them; why the engineers who built the first Walkman considered it a failure; and the real reason the Kellogg brothers invented corn flakes (to satisfy one appetite while suppressing another), and the issue that divided them for life." "In addition to these startling truths, we also get to hear from tobacco company executives about why smoking is good for you, advertising executives on the humanizing effects of billboards on the landscape, and Adam Smith's views on the real reason for business entertainment and trade associations." "In How the Cadillac Got Its Fins, Jack Mingo relates scores of business stories and anecdotes, about products ranging from WD-40 to the VW Bug, from Celestial Seasonings to Colonel Sanders, from Muzak to Super Mario Brothers. You'll be amazed at the brilliance and appalled at the boneheadedness revealed in the pages of this chronicle of the inventors, business leaders, advertisers, and marketers who affect nearly every aspect of our lives."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved