The Space Merchants

"The Space Merchants" is a science fiction novel by Frederik Pohl and Cyril Kornbluth, published in 1952.

The plot takes place in a new America, which has crossed over from Democracy to Consumerism. House representatives and senators are appointed by influential corporations, and in the center of the whole system is advertising, the primary function of which is to create new consumer needs, depending on the products being marketed.

The book's main character is Mitch Courtenay, a high ranking executive of the largest advertising firm, whose life is turned upside down when he is put in charge of the campaign to promote the firm's largest project yet: Venus. His goal is to convince enough people to participate in the expedition that will establish the first human colony on the second (and extremely inhospitable) planet of the solar system.

The authors take a critical look at the sinister methods advertisers had begun to employ already in the 1950s, and where these might lead to, and a more serious look at the over-exploitation of our planet's natural resources.

"The Space Merchants" must have been a ground breaking novel when it was published, but I do not think that it is as interesting now as it must have been then.

6/10