In this short, somewhat polemical, opinion piece I will suggest that the renewed research focus on the rhetoric of and in marketing signalled by this special issue is both timely and necessary, for two reasons. One is that a greater understanding of rhetorically oriented research in marketing can help to render marketing studies more relevant to current marketing, advertising and branding practices in the age of social media. The other reason, connected to the first, is that marketing research and education serve wider constituencies, and the propagation of a greater understanding of rhetoric can serve the critical education of consumers and citizens.