everything is romantic (marketing)

What matters more: the truth or what people believe?

What matters? What’s true? Or what people think? I’ve been kicking this question around since I read The Secret of Sarah Revere all the way back in the 90s. Tiny me had never really considered the difference, was still trying to find a sense of justice and what it means to navigate the world. The book, a historical novel set during the Revolutionary War, introduced me to a concept I hadn’t fully grasped: history isn’t just a record of what happened; it’s a story shaped by who gets to tell it. And in America, the art of the spin has been foundational from the very beginning.

This book takes place during the revolutionary war, the dawn of American propaganda. These events were unprecedented, shrouded in mystery, and the art of the spin was heavily at play. Take the Boston Tea Party - We grow up learning that it was a righteous stand against British tyranny—no taxation without representation! The real issue? It undercut American merchants, limiting their ability to manipulate the market. Many prominent figures of the time, including George Washington and Benjamin Franklin, actually condemned the act. It wasn’t even called the “Boston Tea Party” until decades later, when the story had been rebranded into a patriotic legend. Everything we associate with it today—the defiance, the unity, the revolutionary spirit—is marketing. Marketing the American Dream. Marketing the birth of a nation.

America has not really evolved past the revolution in this way. We are a country built on stories—on what feels true rather than what is true. 24/7 news, social media, political slogans—it’s all simply an upgraded version of the Revolutionary-era pamphlets - shaping reality to fit a preferred narrative. 

So what do we do? If truth matters more than perception, how do we get people to move beyond what they think and recognize the facts?

One of the most important steps is to interrogate the source of a story. What does this source stand to gain? Is it evoking an emotional response—anger, fear, outrage? It’s easy to get swept up in that first gut reaction, to latch onto a feeling before fully absorbing the facts. We make ourselves easy targets, falling for anyone who seems confident and presents “concepts of a plan”, even if it all falls apart under scrutiny.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. If the American story has always been one of strategic storytelling, maybe the only way to challenge it is by telling a better story. It reminds me of that Parks and Recreation episode where Leslie and Tom have to rebrand fluoride just to get people to support it—because selling the truth takes effort. And as we continue to navigate a world flooded with misinformation, we need to make fact-checking the norm, multiple sources the sexy thing to cite, and informed skepticism a cultural standard. In a society built on spin, truth needs better marketing.

Ask yourself, what’s more important? What’s true, or what people think? 

this guy knows marketing! why be a boring ole leaf bag when you can be the darling of the street, the one that brings a smile to all his neighbor’s faces? he knows his shit :)