ProverbCommunication
American origin1926
American origin1926No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public
Meaning: Mass audiences reward simplicity over substance, making mediocrity perpetually profitable.
Origin: A popular condensation of a remark by the journalist H. L. Mencken, who wrote in a September 1926 column on the success of tabloid newspapers that no one "has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people." The tighter wording, and the specific target of the American public, came from later retellings.
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