Car Quote by Noam Chomsky
“The elections are run by the same guys who sell toothpaste. They show you an image of a sports hero, or a sexy model, or a car going up a sheer cliff or something, which has nothing to do with the commodity, but it's intended to delude you into picking this one rather than another one.”
About This Quote
Source Speech: Public Media Critique, 1990s
The quote argues that political advertising manipulates voters by using unrelated, appealing images to distract from product or policy substance.
In simple terms: Political ads use flashy images to hide real issues.
Key Takeaway
Question image, focus on facts.
Themes
politics
media
advertising
manipulation
consumerism
Mood
cautious
critical
skeptical
Type
analytical
critical
political
When to use this quote
- elections
- campaigns
- media consumption
- voter decision making
Key Concepts
propaganda
psychology
attention
distraction
Questions to Reflect On
- How do you verify a candidate’s policies beyond ads?
- What visual cues influence your choices?
A Different Perspective
Appeals may be ineffective if audience is highly skeptical.
![“I wrote an article about the marine landing [in Haiti] right away, but barely mentioned the oil, because my article would come out two months later and I assumed by then, "of course, everybody knows." Nobody knew. There was a news report in the Wall Street Journal, in the petroleum journals, and…” quote by Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/dc5/noam-chomsky-42_articles_i-wrote-an-article-about-the-marine-land_13341.jpg)
