Mara Einstein, Hoodwinked: how marketers use the same tactics as cults. Essex, CT: Prometheus Books, 2025. ISBN: 9781493086153.
As the subtitle states, this book discusses how marketers use the same tactics as cults. This is very applicable to the Internet and social media, and the author discusses those as well. The author covers four major topics:
- Cults and marketing.
- Multilevel marketing.
- Influencers.
- Social media extremism.
The author goes through some marketing history and shows how the marketers use the same strategies cults use to draw people in. From there, she moves on to multilevel marketers (MLM), which to be honest, are basically legalized pyramid schemes. If you think MLM's are things of the past like Tupperware and Amway, read on. MLM's have adapted rather well to our times with new labels and schemes. After that, we learn about social media influencers and their use of cult tactics that go from seemingly benign to outright extreme and toxic. The author at the end of the book does offer some solutions, but these often require willpower that most people just don't have.
The book is interesting overall. The author approaches the topic incrementally, so it is easy to understand. She combines expertise, research, and testimonials to present his points. An issue with the book is that after the first half or so it gets repetitive. Part of it is that marketers and influencers keep using the same exact techniques. "Why mess with a good thing?" I bet they'd say.
If you have an interest in marketing, advertising, social media, and/or scams, this may be a book for you. As an information literacy librarian, this book offers lessons about social media, advertising off and online, and its effects on users. The book provides some good material for awareness and to help our patrons.
This is a book I would recommend for public and academic libraries. For academic libraries, campuses with programs in business and marketing, political science, peace and social justice, and technology may find the book of interest. The book does explain the basics very well with examples. There are also grey information boxes throughout the book for definitions, lists, and additional resources.
I liked the book overall, but it is one to borrow. It is worth reading it and passing it around.
4 out of 5 stars.
Additional reading notes:
The best defense to avoid being hoodwinked:
"The best defense is to learn the fundamental methods for getting people to join these cult-inspired systems, to stay in them, and to recruit others. Only then can we recognize the patterns and stand a chance of identifying them when deployed in the ever-more-automated landscapes in which we are living, working, and making meaning together" (xi).
In other words, you need to know your enemy, and they are your enemy.
A tactic of cults is scarcity marketing, "the practice of regularly limiting the supply of products to gin up consumers' fear of missing out" (xv). A good example that comes to mind is the whiskey industry, especially American whiskey and their racket of allocating certain bottles. What the tactic does:
"Withholding items people want or need and consciously raising their anxiety is what experts call 'systems of control,' an important tactic in the cult tool kit" (xv).
The issue of cults and marketers deceiving or at least hoodwinking you:
"The concern is not that you will be brainwashed into joining a religious group and isolated in some remote country. The issue is that you will be hoodwinked into buying things you don't need or can't afford, or that you will accept extreme ideologies that do not align with who you are. Being vulnerable is predicated on the fact we have come to accept anxiety as our default state of being" (xix-xx).
And in the Hard Times we now live in, anxiety is pretty much the default setting these days.
On most cult leaders:
"Most cult leaders are both smart and lazy. I note this because it helps to dispel a prevailing myth: that people pulled into cults are crazy or stupid. This could not be further from the truth. Yes, young people are an important target group because of their vulnerability and because they will do a lot of work, which is necessary to keep the organization going. However, cults want smart, successful, and preferably wealthy people, because such individuals tend to be good managers and the best form of marketing" (9).
Cults are not just religion:
"Cults are not only about religion. There are political cults and self-improvement or personal growth cults peddled by online hucksters selling webinars on how anyone can be an entrepreneur" (11).
MLM's dirty underbelly:
"MLMs are legally sanctioned pyramid schemes: organizations that generate profits by continually recruiting people who are obliged to pay a fee to be part of the organization. Selling the product or service is secondary at best. By design, these companies make tons of cash for the few folks at the top (who get a percentage of sales from everyone below them on the pyramid), while those at the bottom-- 99 percent of members-- earn nothing or even lose money" (14).
A concept to grasp:
"This is the concept to grasp: our interactions with brands are not about physical products. They are about what we think and feel about the products beyond their physical attribute. They are about what hopes and dreams and voids we want products to fulfill" (21).
The value of influencers to advertisers:
"The true value of influencers is in their ability to get their followers to buy into what they are selling, whether it is a product or themselves" (108).
Being an influencer is like any other gig job, so their revenue comes from various sources. Brand deals is usually the main income source. After that it's ad revenue, affiliate links, selling courses, and some from subscriptions and tips (122). However note that for many small influencers best they can hope for is a free product; they are not getting paid for their labor. It can be highly exploitative, but advertisers know plenty of suckers-- microinfluencers or wannabes-- will jump if offered free merchandise to peddle.
The book does explain the basics very well with examples. There are also grey information boxes throughout the book for definitions, lists, and additional resources.
On social media:
"Social media companies aid extremism, and they know it. They could very easily change their algorithms, but they don't because it will impact their bottom line" (197).
Despite social media platforms still growing, the author argues the social media ecosystem is dying, His reasons for arguing that include:
- "Posting isn't fun anymore."
- "Influencers are too burnt, too big, or too willing to take a brand deal."
- "Social media has become second-rate TV."
- "Brands are becoming media channels and subcultures" (201-202).
The author explains those points, and this part is worth reading and then reflecting on your social media experience. I've been on social media since the early days, and for me I can attest the fun that used to be there is not there anymore. Don't take my word for it. Look at your own experience and see how it is for you. If you feel moved, feel free to come back and comment about your social media experiences. Maybe we can compare notes.
Two books from the book's bibliography I am adding to my TBR list:
- Van der Linden, Sander. Foolproof: Why Misinformation Infects our Minds and How to Build Immunity (2023). Published by W.W. Norton.
- Young, Dannagal Goldthwaite. Wrong: How media, politics, and identity drive our appetite for misinformation (2023). Published by Johns Hopkins Press.
