The 1960s revolt chiefly released individual desires that advertisers could monetize.

Evidence

There’s little question that the revolt of the 1960s did lead part of a generation away from the attention merchants of the 1950s. But industry calibrated an effective response and perhaps ultimately read the public mood more accurately than any guru. For they had detected the essence of the spirit of liberation: for most people it was not an end of desire (as in some Buddhist sense), or a wish for solitary withdrawal (in a monastic sense), or even, as Leary had hoped, a spiritual longing equal to motivating an inward turn. Rather, after decades of relative conformity and one of ultimate conformity, what had been uncorked was powerful individual desires and the will to express them. Above all, most simply wanted to feel more like an individual. And that was a desire industry could cater to, just like any other. — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 564

Categorization

• ADDENDUM: Directly relevant to the narrative that commercial systems co-opt rebellion; the individual-desire point extends the essay on sacrifice by showing how institutions absorb movements. More strongly, it parallels the immodesty essay’s pattern where moral panics are absorbed into fashion cycles.
• XREF: Connects to the theme of advertising co-opting counterculture, echoing the commercial-realism thesis of Braudel and the commodification-of-rebellion idea from Klein’s No Logo. — connects to: Countercultural rebellion was co-opted as a selling tool by advertisers — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 549; Advertisers converted hippie desires into consumer demand in peak acquisitive years. — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 565; 1960s advertising made a turn from fear-based to love-based persuasion — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 587

Broader Connections

• Countercultural rebellion was co-opted as a selling tool by advertisers #corroborates (1.00) — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 549
• Advertisers converted hippie desires into consumer demand in peak acquisitive years. #corroborates (0.95) — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 565
• 1960s advertising made a turn from fear-based to love-based persuasion #expands (0.80) — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 587