Commentary by management consultant Michael Wade on Leadership, Ethics, Management, and Life
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Signs of Decline
Illustration Art looks at comics from a bygone era and concludes there has been a dumbing-down since those days. Note the examples from Mad magazine and how the artist assumed that readers would know tunes from Gilbert and Sullivan.
I had forgotten how funny those old MAD magazines were. MAD used to be more funny when they weren't so popular, but unfortunately their own success lead to financial pressure to appeal to a larger audience. High brow jokes would be lost on their larger market.
When I reflect on the dumbing down of popular culture, I am reminded of the Dilbert cartoon of a few months back, where Dilbert objects that intelligent people would see through their advertising campaign.
"Don't worry about appealing to the intelligent people," his boss replied. "There aren't that many of them."
2 comments:
I had forgotten how funny those old MAD magazines were. MAD used to be more funny when they weren't so popular, but unfortunately their own success lead to financial pressure to appeal to a larger audience. High brow jokes would be lost on their larger market.
When I reflect on the dumbing down of popular culture, I am reminded of the Dilbert cartoon of a few months back, where Dilbert objects that intelligent people would see through their advertising campaign.
"Don't worry about appealing to the intelligent people," his boss replied. "There aren't that many of them."
Dan,
Mad was at its peak when it appealed to intelligent people.
Michael
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