Sales Pitch

Sales Pitch

Sales Pitch is a science fiction short story by Philip K. Dick, first published in Future Science Fiction magazine, June 1954. The premise of omni-present, intrusive and even aggressive advertising and marketing is as relevant as ever. In the end of the story, the character is driven mad by a robot who can forcefully market himself, and refuses to take no for an answer. The subject was of concern to Dick, and features in his early works such as The Man Who Japed. Dick was ahead of his time: advertising was still considered relatively innocous in the 1950s. A more subtle extrapolation of the idea is seen in J. G. Ballard's The Subliminal Man, written nearly 10 years later.

In 1978, Dick said of the story:

"When this story first appeared, the fans detested it. I read it over, perplexed by their hostility, and could see why: it is a superdowner story, and relentlessly so. Could I rewrite it, I would have it end differently. I would have the man and the robot, i.e. the "fasrad", form a partnership at the end and become friends. The logic of paranoia of this story should be deconstructed into its opposite; Y, the human-against-robot theme, should have been resolved into null-Y, human-and-robot-against-the-universe. I really deplore the ending. So when you read the story, try to imagine it as it ought to have been written. The fasrad says, 'Sir, I am here to help you. The hell with my sales pitch. Let's be together forever.' Yes, but then I would have been criticized for a false upbeat ending, I guess. Still, the ending is not good. The fans were right."Fact|date=February 2007

External links

*isfdb title|58421


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Look at other dictionaries:

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  • sales pitch — sales pitches N COUNT A salesperson s sales pitch is what they say in order to persuade someone to buy something from them. His sales pitch was smooth and convincing …   English dictionary

  • sales pitch — sales ,pitch noun count the statements and promises someone makes in an attempt to persuade someone else to buy something …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • sales pitch — noun promotion by means of an argument and demonstration • Syn: ↑sales talk, ↑pitch • Derivationally related forms: ↑pitch (for: ↑pitch) • Hypernyms: ↑promotion, ↑ …   Useful english dictionary

  • sales pitch — UK / US noun [countable] Word forms sales pitch : singular sales pitch plural sales pitches the statements and promises that someone makes in an attempt to persuade someone else to buy something …   English dictionary

  • sales pitch — noun Remarks or demonstrations intended to persuade a consumer to make a purchase, especially when vigorously delivered or exaggerated. As far as he is concerned, it is just a hucksters sales pitch …   Wiktionary

  • sales pitch — / seɪlz pɪtʃ/ noun a talk by a salesperson to persuade someone to buy …   Marketing dictionary in english

  • Pitch — may refer to:In music: * Pitch (music), the property of a sound or musical tone measured by its perceived frequency ** Range (music), the distance from the lowest to the highest pitch a musical instrument can play ** Vocal range, the distance… …   Wikipedia

  • sales presentation — UK US noun [C] COMMERCE, MARKETING ► a talk giving information about a product or service that you are trying to sell, intended to persuade people to buy it: »attend/make/perform a sales presentation → Compare SALES PITCH(Cf. ↑sales pitch) …   Financial and business terms

  • pitch — Ⅰ. pitch [1] ► NOUN 1) the degree of highness or lowness in a sound or tone, as governed by the rate of vibrations producing it. 2) the steepness of a roof. 3) a particular level of intensity. 4) Brit. an area of ground marked out or used for… …   English terms dictionary

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