Leary saw revolutionary American political catchphrases as advertising slogans

Evidence

Taking McLuhan’s advice seriously, he made a list of the most revolutionary American slogans: “Give me Liberty or Give Me Death” came to him first, and then “A Nation Cannot Exist Half Slave and Half Free,” “The Only Thing We Have to Fear Is Fear Itself,” and finally “Lucky Strike Means Fine Tobacco” (the latter had been used over the 1940s and 1950s, replacing “Reach for a Lucky Instead of a Sweet”). — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 537

Categorization

• SEED: Could seed an essay on how political persuasion and commercial advertising share the same rhetorical machinery—revolutionary slogans as brands.
• XREF: connects to: Marshall McLuhan advised Leary that advertising techniques were key to countercultural persuasion — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 536; Political slogans can be historically concrete despite appearing abstract later; Repeated slogans sever language from lived experience, linking advertising with totalitarian control. — Theodor W. Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Dialectic of Enlightenment, 121 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Advertising’s suspicion-inducing logic extends to political propaganda #corroborates (0.80)
• Repeated slogans sever language from lived experience, linking advertising with totalitarian control. #expands (0.78) — Theodor W. Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Dialectic of Enlightenment, 121
• Political slogans can be historically concrete despite appearing abstract later #expands (0.75)