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

Chapter 28 Oh no, I've really become a traitor!

The Victoria's Secret bra advertising campaign continues to be updated.

Following "I dreamt I was wearing a Victoria's Secret bra and swinging on a swing," the magazine published "I dreamt I was wearing a Victoria's Secret bra and cooking" and "I dreamt I was wearing a Victoria's Secret bra and going to work," both featuring women wearing only underwear.

Despite the fierce criticism and even the burning down of one newspaper office that published the advertisement, the number of newspapers willing to advertise for Logan continued to increase.

Now Logan doesn't need to pay extra for advertising anymore; on the contrary, newspapers are offering him preferential prices to attract him to advertise.

The reason was simple: in 1921, the American newspaper industry was entering a golden age—because of a nationwide war of words ignited by a tiny piece of underwear.

After being "enlightened" by Logan's articles under various pseudonyms, both sides seemed to have suddenly become enlightened, and the debate quickly slid into a quagmire of personal attacks and conspiracy theories.

A female columnist, writing under the pen name "The Torch of the Statue of Liberty," sharply mocked conservatives: "Those sanctimonious gentlemen and ladies, are you afraid of bras themselves, or are you afraid that women have finally gained the right to define their own body comfort and display?"

Then came a barrage of sarcasm and ridicule, mocking the outraged conservatives as "living fossils of the colonial era" and "psychopathic enthusiasts"...

The conservatives, on the other hand, are more enlightened.

They firmly grasp the ultimate weapon of religion and tradition: "The Bible clearly teaches that dignity is a virtue for women. So-called 'freedom of display' is nothing but a fig leaf for indulgence and depravity! It is a poisonous serpent that tempts men to sin!"

Then came more direct personal attacks:

Sarah, who organized the march, was denounced as "a spinster who can't get married, whose jealousy has scorched her reason, causing her to drag all the young girls down with her and turn them into playthings for people to watch at will! Utterly shameful!"

The women in the march and Anne, the female lead in the advertisement, were viciously labeled as "prostitutes of capital"—they firmly believed that the so-called "health gospel" was actually a colossal lie concocted by capital and depravity!

It seems that the more absurd and bizarre the attack, the stronger the resonance it evokes among supporters.

Logan, the originator of this phenomenon, has not specifically studied it and can only guess that it is probably related to the cognitive matching of the audience.

It's like if he tells a religiously conservative redneck that "underwear parades are morally corrupt," the redneck will nod and agree, saying "yes, yes, yes," but won't actually do anything about it.

But if he told a redneck, "The shape of that bra is exactly like the devil's evil goat horns! The wearer has unknowingly made a pact with the devil of hell," the redneck might explode and take to the streets to "slay the devil!"

In short, every newspaper became a battlefield filled with the smoke of gunpowder, with both sides using ink as bullets and pens as spears, attacking each other with such sharp angles and venomous words that it was a spectacle of the century.

The editors watched with beaming smiles as circulation steadily increased.

The debate over the "bra war" resounded everywhere—in streets and alleys, cafes and salons, and even at family dinner tables.

People waved newspapers with still-wet ink, their faces flushed as they quoted passages that were either "scientific" or "absurd," trying to overwhelm each other.

The battlefield quickly spread to the reader's letter section.

A letter signed "A Worried Old Father" poured out his heart: "My fifteen-year-old daughter, bewitched by that devilish advertisement, will only wear that devil's underwear! Isn't this the first step leading her down the path of prostitution?!"

"I'm going to lock her in the house and never let her leave!"

The following day, dozens of letters signed "Angry Daughters" responded: "Father, get rid of the filth in your head! Our bodies and choices are none of your business to define with the vicious label of 'prostitute'! What you fear is nothing more than losing control over your daughters' lives!" "We will definitely find your home and rescue your poor daughters from their captivity!"

The intensity of the collision left even the editors speechless.

The entire country seemed to be engulfed in a massive, word-and-mouthed online battle.

The age stratification of supporters and opponents is clearly visible: the younger the people, the more they support the new bra; the older the people, the more they see it as a devil.

In this great debate, the intellectual community was certainly not absent.

Compared to the heated online arguments, Logan saw some interesting analysis in the comments.

For example, a professor collected fashion magazines from the past few years from the library, cut out pictures of women wearing skirts from the magazines, and used them as research material.

He wrote, "Although mainstream opinion insists that long skirts are the standard clothing for women, judging from the trends of the past few years, women have been looking for shorter skirts, and the industry has been quietly adapting to the wishes of customers by designing increasingly shorter skirts."

"The popularity of short skirts not only accentuates women's beautiful curves, but also sparks discontent among women towards old-fashioned corsets. According to statistics, in the past three years alone, the total sales of old-fashioned corsets in New York department stores have decreased by 11%..."

He concluded, "As it turns out, the Victoria's Secret bra is a product that aligns with the collective consciousness of women!"

This is not just one opinion. An article in The Atlantic points out that the current nationwide debate is determined by the post-war social situation and was bound to happen sooner or later.

As mentioned above, due to the brutality of the World War (World War I), soldiers who were fine today might be bleeding on the battlefield tomorrow, so the soldiers going to the front lines had a "live for the moment" mentality.

When the war ended, these young people returned home. The social order demanded that they return to the monotonous, rule-abiding life they had lived before the war, and also expected them to revert to the moral principles of their parents and grandparents. All of this fueled the rebellious spirit of the younger generation.

"So, on the surface, the current nationwide debate is about a piece of underwear; in essence, it is a revolution by the younger generation against traditional habits and social morality."

There are many similar analyses, which can be summarized as follows: the current heated debate is actually the result of the interplay between factors such as the disillusionment following the war, the rise of women's status, and the enactment of Prohibition, rather than really being about a piece of underwear.

After reading these analyses, Logan was astonished to find that he had originally just wanted to have some fun, but now he was being regarded as one of the symbols driving social change in America.
This is wrong!

I should be a traitor!
However, when tobacco companies also followed Victoria's Secret's lead and started placing newspaper ads featuring "beautiful girls holding cigarettes and blowing smoke rings towards men," this trend of changing habits and morality seemed unstoppable.

—You should know that before this, if a tobacco company asked any newspaper to publish an image of a woman smoking in its paper, the newspaper would refuse outright, because that would be a fatal blow to the company.

Now, everything is different... isn't it?

There were always some determined Puritans who were desperately trying to prevent this change from happening!

So, on this day, Logan was suddenly blocked at the door by the police.

The reason is--

Reverend Edward of the Chicago Catholic Church sued Logan and Richard in state court, accusing them of selling obscene materials!
He also filed a lawsuit in federal court, accusing Logan of selling obscene materials throughout the United States!
Oh no, I've really become a traitor!
……

(End of this chapter)