A dictionary of Marshall McLuhan’s quotations

Even movie people don't have to study their medium that closely. Because in most movies they are very, very vague about the sort of effect they want. Big boys like Bergman are artists who understand effects. They don't just make pictures. They know the effect they want before they start. Advertising men know the effect they want before they start-they want sales. That's why the art of advertising is the greatest art form in the world. The advertisement, because of its concern for effect and its understanding of the media for the getting of that effect, is the greatest art form there is. Years from now the advertising of our century will be studied by all the great art experts. They will be saying, "Oh boy, that artist was totally unknown, anonymous and ignored all his life. He was one of the greatest guys who ever lived."
“CONVERSATION WITH MARSHALL MCLUHAN”, Howard Polskin Interview in Videography ,October (1977), p 61
Year: 1977
Chapters: Advertising | Movies
↪ Also at #108
Compiled by William Kuhns
© 2026, The Estate of Marshall McLuhan