I was acting crazy in North America, and all the crazy people there took it seriously.

Chapter 24 The Underwear Wars 1.0
Q: How many newspapers can withstand the power of money?
Answer: Zero!

When one advertisement generates the revenue of a hundred, even if the editor doesn't want to take it, the boss will force him to; even if the boss doesn't want to, the shareholders will force him to take it.

Naturally, this is also because Logan doesn't choose absolutely conservative newspapers.

—Those newspapers aren't in it for the money; they're for spreading ideas. You can't mess with them.

In short, half of his investment was spent on advertising to "rank" on the charts.

So, on that day, more than ten newspapers covering almost the entire United States published the same large advertisement in their advertising sections—

Anne was swinging on a swing wearing only a Victoria's Secret bra.

Below the advertisement photo, a line of fantastical text was added: "I dreamed I had a swinging time in my Victoria's Secret bra."

Yes, the bra brand Logan launched is called "Victoria's Secret".

Without considering any prior knowledge, this brand name easily evokes the image of "Queen Victoria's Secret"—who knows how much Americans adore its British counterpart!

This is a series of advertisements titled "I dreamt that I was wearing a Victoria's Secret bra and doing...", all featuring beautiful women wearing only Victoria's Secret lingerie doing everyday things.

However, once this "ordinary thing" was reported, it became shocking!
The entire United States, from the East Coast to the West Coast, was instantly swept up in the shockwave of this advertisement.

For the first time, Wall Street financiers, accustomed to the awe-inspiring power of numbers, choked on their coffee at the sight of a large advertisement in the newspaper.

The gentlemen on the street, flipping through their newspapers, were so startled that their glasses slipped off their noses without them noticing, and their mouths were agape enough to fit an egg.

Some women, after seeing the newspaper, subconsciously compared the outline of the exquisite lingerie in the advertisement to themselves. Their eyes first showed astonishment, then a strange, almost imperceptible light, a mixture of envy and longing, flashed in their eyes as they murmured to themselves, "My God... what would it feel like to wear this?"

Angry denunciations, hypocritical criticisms, secret curiosity, and suppressed snickers turned the city streets into an exhibition of inappropriate behavior.

On this day, people no longer talked about political or entertainment news; all the topics were strangely focused on those few thin pieces of fabric and the curves of the body beneath them.

Immediately afterwards, a wave of anger swept across the United States like a storm.

The telegraph lines were burning hotter than ever before, and letters of strongly worded protest flew like snowflakes to those "degenerate" newspapers.

Of these, only two cities, Chicago and New York, are relatively calm.

Chicago is already used to this – we've all seen this woman naked in the newspapers before, so at least she's wearing some clothes now, calm down.

As for New York, what haven't we seen in our great New York? Every street has a few artists, and every artist has painted nude women. It's nothing!

……

In Boston, a city originally founded by the Puritans and which established strict moral codes, the gossip on the streets has turned into raging flames.

In front of the newspaper office building that published the underwear advertisement, crosses and icons stood like glaring battle flags, raised high among the crowd.

Faces contorted with rage, voices hoarse as they echoed the shouts of the speaker at the front of the crowd.

"We are standing on Puritan soil! How can we allow such filth to run rampant here!"

"Defend morality!"

"Protect our female family members!"

More than a dozen police officers stood in front of the newspaper office, preventing the protesters from entering. As the number of protesters grew, they chanted slogans such as "They should arrest the people inside instead of stopping us" and "Shame on you," and clashed repeatedly with the police.

An old-fashioned citizen held up a newspaper advertisement in front of a young policeman and demanded, "Are you condoning this filth?"

A hint of disdain flashed across the young policeman's face as he muttered, "It's just an underwear ad, isn't it? I think the underwear design is quite reasonable..."

This casual reply instantly ignited the fuse.

An old-fashioned citizen roared in anger: "They are indeed condoning filth!"

He then raised his arm and roared, "Let's charge in!"

The crowd suddenly erupted like a volcano, and the police line collapsed instantly. In the boiling tide of people, they were scattered and swept away like duckweed.

The newspaper office doors were smashed open, and the crowd surged in like a burst dam. The people inside fled in panic!
There were newspapers spread out in the newspaper office, and on them were women in revealing lingerie!

Someone pulled out a lighter, and with a crisp click, a pale blue flame leaped onto the newspaper.

People cheered and shouted in unison, "Burn it! Burn it!"

The advertisement featuring lingerie models was engulfed by flames; the sinful images and provocative words twisted, blackened, and shrank in the heatwave before finally turning to ashes.

The firelight danced rapidly across people's faces, illuminating their angry, religiously fanatical eyes, as if a sacrifice to purify evil was underway.

They kept throwing the newspapers they found into the fire, and the flames shot up and burned brighter and brighter.

Unwittingly, the flames devoured bundles of newspapers, tables and chairs, and greedily licked the ink and walls...

At this point, the fire was completely out of control!

Now it was the protesters' turn to run away in panic when they sensed things were going badly!
Thick smoke billowed, the fire spread, and the smell of burning, mixed with the acrid smell of ink, engulfed the building.

The police were frantically trying to evacuate the crowd, while the sirens of the fire trucks grew louder and more piercing as they approached, like a belated funeral dirge, powerless to stop the raging fire of justice.

Thick smoke obscured half of the Boston sky, alarming the entire city.

Is there anything more absurd than an underwear advertisement causing a fire that burned down a building?
Have!
Across the United States, people cheered the fire, calling it a "fire of justice" that deterred newspapers and underwear advertisers from spreading obscenity!
The newspaper owner's immediate announcement to prosecute the arsonist protesters also garnered widespread support.

A local journalist wrote: "Bostonians once sparked the American Revolutionary War because of a tea party; now, are Bostonians going to burn down a newspaper office because of an advertisement and start an underwear war?"

……

"I am heartbroken, deeply saddened by the arson attack on the newspaper office, and strongly condemn the arsonists!" Logan told a reporter from The Sun with a somber expression.

When asked about the Bostonians' "underwear war" theory relayed by a reporter, Logan stated seriously, "Nobody wants to see a war started over a piece of underwear!"

"We only want to benefit women and do everything in our power to prevent the outbreak of war!"

But afterwards, some employees claimed that when they passed by Logan’s office, they heard Logan make the unrestrained laughter of a warmonger who had just heard that war had broken out!

Such descriptions easily lead to conspiracy theories.

……

(End of this chapter)