Numerous billboards and posters are appearing with the tagline, “Nobody reads anymore.” This is all part of a marketing campaign from Book of the Month, a book service that is 100 years old in 2026.
Book of the month’s tagline is damaging.
The tagline itself is confusing. It seems to be ironic, with the words positioned next to a smug-looking person clutching a hardcover. Yet it is also pushy, as if trying to needle people into reading, or make them feel guilty for not reading ‘enough.’
I am a voracious reader, but I think that any amount of reading should be celebrated, especially in a world where everything is fast-paced and down-time is becoming ever more non-existent. The tagline doesn’t align with this idea, instead focusing on creating negative emotions in order to almost ‘guilt’ people to pick up a book. Thus, reading becomes negative, not something to do out of pleasure but instead from a sense of obligation.
BOTM’s tagline is also not wholly true.
In Canada, reading is on an upward trend. Many studies focus only on America, in which reading for pleasure has declined. But America is not the centre of the universe, and there are plenty of other places in the world where reading is a habit. BookTok and BookTube is alive and well, and is a thriving community that only grows larger. Moreover, countries like Canada are beginning to prioritise diversity and representation in their books.
Why does this matter?
So many brands use advertising to lie or cause a sensationalist reaction, and advertising is becoming more and more prevalent. Streaming services now use adverts. Everywhere you go, unless you’re in the middle of the woods, there’s a glossy person staring at you from a billboard clutching a new perfume between their french tips. In a world where we are reliant on messaging and the media, is it not rational to hope that we might be told the truth?