Industry opposition and media blackout killed the Tugwell advertising bill in the 1930s
Evidence
Unlike patent medicines, however, the advertising industry, though bloodied, was more than equipped to defend itself; and its side was joined by the fledgling pharmaceutical industry, already practiced in government relations, and determined to protect what it called the “sacred right of self-medication.” Rexford Tugwell became the target of claims that he was a communist agent trying to import socialism: “The world knows that he has visited Russia and has found its institutions acceptable,” charged one industry flack, and now “he believes that packaging and advertising constitutes economic waste that should be prevented.” Advertising also cleverly enlisted newspapers to its cause, even issuing threats to pull most of its business were the bill to pass; as the historian Inger L. Stole points out, the American media almost entirely declined to cover the controversy. Sensing their very viability was at stake, the newspapers, food producers, and drug manufacturers formed a tight phalanx with the advertising industry, doing everything they could, even funding front groups, until they were sure the Tugwell Bill would go down in flames. — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 280
Categorization
- XREF: Connects to the historical pattern of regulators being defeated by advertiser-funded media — echoes earlier chapters on how advertising bought press influence, and parallels modern platform lobbying. — connects to: The advertising industry branded 1930s consumer protection efforts as communist subversion — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 264; The rejected Tugwell Bill would have made modern infomercials illegal — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 279; The Tugwell Bill would have criminalized ads making false impressions by implication — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 278
- SEED: Angle: the ‘threaten to pull ad dollars’ strategy as a recurring media-capture mechanism from the Tugwell era to today’s advertiser boycotts of platforms.