the children's-ad campaign: Glad protects its purchased year — Subsidized Time eats the public interest

Subsidized Time's logic exposed at the point of decision: the whole "public-service" campaign exists because "the upcoming year's Glad's year" — the Glad Flaccid Receptacle Corp. bought the naming rights (the Year of Glad, 059/083's calendar auction) and now must protect its investment from becoming "the year half the nation stopped doing anything but staring bug-eyed at some sinister cartridge." The public interest and the sponsor's brand-equity have fused: the nation is warned against the samizdat not primarily to save citizens but to save the value of a corporate year-purchase. Subsidized Time has eaten the very idea of a public good — even the anti-lethal-weapon ad is a sponsor protecting its asset.