Marketing the Moon: The Selling of the Apollo Lunar Program
Marketing the Moonis a fascinating look at how NASA and its partners brought the Moon to the world's living rooms. Apollo's revered place in the collective imagination stems, in large part, from the efforts detailed in this book.(Fritz Johnston, Vice President, Brand and Advertising, The Boeing Company)Don't think for a moment that NASA masterminded a PR campaign that brought the Apollo missions into our living rooms. Just like everything else about the Moon program, how -- and how much -- to share Apollo with the public was a learn-as-you-go affair that involved not only NASA's public affairs office but top NASA managers and even astronauts. As this excellent and informative book details, even the idea of live television from the Moon was a matter of heated debate, and there were moments when it might've gone the other way. Thank heaven it didn't: When humans first voyaged to the moon, they took the world along.(Andrew Chaikin, author ofA Man on the Moon)To call the Apollo Program the greatest marketing exploit of the 20th century is not hyperbole, but, as David Meerman Scott and Richard Jurek show us, simply a statement of fact. Thanks to this thorough and detailed account, we can better understand not just the talent and dedication of the Mad Men-era professionals who sold the Moon to a global public, but also the larger transformation of statecraft into stagecraft, and the enduring and irreversible transformation of the public sphere into an enterprise of image creation, and manipulation.(Nicholas de Monchaux, Associate Professor of Architecture and Urban Design, University of California, Berkeley, and author ofSpacesuit: Fashioning Apollo)We have long known that NASA mobilized a broad public relations campaign supporting the Apollo program of the 1960s. We have not known until now, with the publication ofMarketing the Moonby David Meerman Scott and Richard Jurek, the details of the campaign. Scott and Jurek offer a compelling account of these great efforts, informed by interviews with many of the participants, and well-illustrated by unique imagery and documents.(Roger D. Launius, Senior Curator, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum)President Kennedy hoped the nation would succeed in sending a man into space and landing on the Moon. Though he did not live to see it happen, his dream was fulfilled. David Meerman Scott and Richard Jurek'sMarketing the Moonshows us in vivid detail what it took to make this happen. This is one of the great stories of the 20th century.(Alan Brinkley, Allan Nevins Professor of American History, Columbia University)a well-written look at how NASA, industry, and the media covered the Apollo missions.....Marketing the Moonprovides a fascinating look at the marketing of humanity's first missions to the Moon, as well as a reminder that space exploration, including first-of-their-kind missions to other worlds in our solar system, do not sell themselves.(Jeff FoustThe Space Review)The book tells an entertaining and engaging story, but there's a lot to learn from here, as well...And it's a beautiful book. Lavishly illustrated, it's a book for the coffee table, the office desk, the lobby. Full-page illustrations; covers and excerpts of glossy magazines from the era, as well as full-page 'asides' on related topics:Disney's Tomorrowland; the '50s sci-fi television seriesSpace Patrol; Soviet Russian efforts to inspire with elaborate futuristic space films of their own. And much more...The text boxes and asides are just as fascinating and informative as the main narrative itself. And it's impeccably researched: from how reporters with low-budget media improvised launch coverage, to how contractors ingeniously pioneered new methods of colour photography. The authors leave no stone unturned - not even moon rocks, whose complicated fate in international diplomacy they chronicle as well. Those with an interest in marketing and complex project management will find the book particularly interesting, but it's accessible for the general public and will enthrall any space enthusiast.(PopMatters)The book is a highly illustratedtour-de-forceof the particular way government and industry grabbed the attention of the media and, at first without planning it, wooed the public and seduced print and electronic news channels to get behind the biggest message of the day.(David BakerSpaceflight)