In this solo episode with your host of the Hoodwinked Podcast, Dr. Mara Einstein, explains how cult tactics slipped into everyday marketing—and why your favorite brands, like Apple and Lululemon, might be shaping more than your shopping habits.

Dr. Mara Einstein, author of *Hoodwinked: How marketers use the same tactics as cults*

In this solo episode, Dr. Mara Einstein follows the trail from Jonestown to Apple, to TikTok influencers, and MLMs, uncovering how cult psychology has quietly become a blueprint for modern marketing. What used to live on remote compounds now lives in your feed, your shopping cart, and the brands you identify with.

Dr. Mara breaks down how vulnerable people get targeted, love-bombed, upsold, and turned into unpaid evangelists—and why she believes we’re not in an attention economy anymore, but an anxiety economy. Most importantly, she shows you how to start spotting the pattern to reclaim your self-agency.

In this conversation:

How the word “cult” went from derogatory description to being widely applied to religion, brands, and politics
Why brands now sell identity (“I am Mac”) instead of products
How cult recruitment steps parallel the marketing funnel, from targeting vulnerable prospects to conversion to loyalty
How stealth ads, influencers, and algorithms blur the line between content and commerce
Dr. Mara explains the “cult marketing continuum”—a theoretical framework for understanding the scope of cult tactics in marketing and politics
Why most people eventually get out, and what that means for reclaiming your agency

Mentions:

Hoodwinked: How Marketers Use the Same Tactics as Cults – Dr. Mara Einstein
The Wrong Way Home – Arthur Dyckman
The Power of Cult Branding – Matthew W. Ragas & Bolivar J. Bueno
The Culting of Brands – Douglas Atkin
The Cult of Trump – Steven Hassan
Cultish – Amanda Montell
Uncultured – Daniella Mestyanek Young
Comprehending Cults – Lorne Dawson

Documentaries

The Vow – HBO docuseries on NXIVM
LuLaRich – Prime docuseries on LuLaRoe
WeWork: Or the Making and Breaking of a $47 Billion Unicorn – Hulu documentary on Adam Neumann & WeWork
Brandy Hellville & The Cult of Fast Fashion – HBO docuseries on Brandy Melville
Apple Cider Vinegar – Netflix dramatized series on Belle Gibson, wellness influencer
60 Minutes segment featuring Frances Haugen, meta whistleblower

Scholars, Thinkers, and Public Figures

Arthur Dyckman – psychiatrist, author of The Wrong Way Home
Lorne Dawson – sociologist, author of Comprehending Cults
Muniz & O’Guinn – marketing scholars on brand communities
Janja Lalich – sociologist and cult expert
Frances Haugen – meta whistleblower
Cory Doctorow – writer who coined “enshittification”

Transcript Available

About the host

Dr. Mara Einstein spent a decade in corporate marketing working for some of the world’s biggest brands before turning her focus to exposing the industry’s inner workings. Now a tenured professor of media studies at CUNY, she’s dedicated to helping people understand how marketing shapes what we buy, what we believe, and even who we think we are. With a background spanning business, media, and the arts, Dr. Einstein brings sharp insight and humor to the systems that sell us our identities—and the power we have to push back.

Pick up Dr. Einstein’s book Hoodwinked: How Marketers Use the Same Tactics as Cults on

Bookshop.org (and beyond): https://bookshop.org/a/116018/9781493086153

Website: https://www.drmaraeinstein.com

Books: https://www.drmaraeinstein.com/writing

Instagram, TikTok, Threads: @drmaraeinstein

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Drmaraeinstein

Credits

Production: Multitude

Lead Producer & Editor: Bren Frederick

Music: Marc Langer

Cover art: Cayla Einstein

Clips used