A dictionary of Marshall McLuhan’s quotations

[T]he ad is taking the place of the product progressively; the ad is a substitute for the product. It is not intended to encourage you to go out and buy a product; it is intended to be a product; to give you all the satisfactions and more than you could ever get from the product. In fact it is the people who own that car, own that icebox, love that soap-whatever they own already- who read and watch ads, in order to get the right satisfaction. This is a simple dynamic within the information environment.
“Education in the Electronic Age”, in Interchange, Vol 1, No 4, (1970), p 3
Year: 1970
Chapter: Advertising
Compiled by William Kuhns
© 2026, The Estate of Marshall McLuhan