 Canadian educator  philosopher  scholar  professor of English literature  literary critic  Rhetorician  communication theorist.  July 21, 1911 – December 31, 1980

 The Mechanical Bride: Folklore of Industrial Man (1951)  Interest in Popular Culture was influenced by Culture and Environment (1933) – F.R. Leavis and Denys Thompson  Mechanical Bride is from a piece of art by Marcel Duchamp  59 sections  Composed of short essays

 The Bride Stripped Bare By Her Bachelors, Even  Where Marshall McLuhan got the title for his novel The Mechanical Bride

 Essays begin with newspaper or magazine article or advertisement, followed by McLuhan’s analysis theory  Folklore: beliefs, customs, and values passed down through media  “Folklore of our society is determined, not by education or religion, but by mass media”

 Analyzes popular culture’s affect on people  Concern for Sex and Technology in advertising  “one dream opens into another until reality and fantasy are made interchangeable”  Troubled by unchecked forces shaping the lives of people

 Hollywood and advertising agencies strive to “enter and control the unconscious minds of a vast public… in order to exploit them for profit”  Observer is “shaped and molded like Silly Putty”  Tribal chieftains, medicine men, nobility, and religious leaders control the people  Ads, comics, and movies are not what they seem

 Freedom to listen – Freedom to Look: An Ad for the Radio Corporation of America tells of a rural family doing their business with the radio on. › McLuhan: “we still have our freedom to listen?” and here “Come on kiddies. Buy a radio and feel free – to listen.”  Freedom to listen, but you still have to pay to be able to listen

 For Men of Distinction – Lord Calvert: An Ad for Lord Calvert whiskey depicts nine gentlemen holding a glass of their whiskey › McLuhan: “Why pick on the arts? Hasn’t anyone in science or industry ever distinguished himself by drinking whiskey?”  Everyone is equal, so why classify one group of people as something?

 The Famous DuBarry Success Course: An Ad for beauty creams complete with female model in a swimsuit hawks itself as a “success course” complete with “tuition” › McLuhan: “why laugh and grow fat when you can experience anguish and success in a straight jacket?”  To be famous and have eyes on you, you have to go through pain and anguish and be virtually mad

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