Hummer — How a little Truck Company hit the big time, thanks to Saddam, Schwarzenegger and GM

by Marty Padgett

Part company history, part business tale, and part action novel, this book tells the story of the Humvees rise from a utility vehicle bred for military use to a suburban status-symbol. More that a simple story of GMs clever branding scheme at a perfect juncture in automotive, consumer, and world histories, this book is a cultural dissection of what images make Americans open their pocketbooks so readily, and how buying American consumers was never so easy-or conflicted.

Americans got their first real look at the Hummer during the first Gulf War. Interestingly, because of the advent of 24-hour news at this same point in time, the Gulf War served as priceless free advertising for AM Generals war machine. After seeing the Hummer in action, movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger reportedly helped to convince AM General to prep the Hummer for civilian sales and was one of the first to own one.

The attention garnered by Schwarzenegger and other celebrities like Tom Clancy, Shaquille ONeal, G. Gordon Liddy, and any other high-profile American with $ 100.000 to spare spurred General Motors to acquire the Hummer name for a new range of smaller SUVs. With a well-timed second war in Iraq, General Motors saw sales of its Hummer H2 skyrocket, just as "Ahnuld" prepared for the debut of the third installment of his Terminator movies, which cemented his Hollywood status as the king of action movies since the first battle in Iraq.

They say timing is everything. With the exploration of everything from consumer buying habits and American economics to global military action and big-budget Hollywood star power, this book tells the story of how priceless and valuable timing has been for Americas largest and most recognizable SUV.

Buch, Hardcover, 16 x 23,5 cm, 256 Seiten, 16 farbige und 26 s/w-Abbildungen, englischer Text
Einzelstück - Zustand: neuwertig