"Advertising ought to work by telling you what it is you want to tell, you should understand what you want us to do, what you want us to think, where you want us to shop"
About this Quote
What makes the line work is its awkward, almost unedited syntax. The repetition of “what you want” and “want us” exposes the asymmetry at the core of the transaction: advertisers have goals; consumers are the medium. By refusing elegance, he signals a worldview where effectiveness beats subtlety. It’s an ad man talking like a mechanic: here’s the engine, here’s how it runs.
Context matters. Chiat, co-founder of Chiat/Day, helped define late-20th-century American advertising, when agencies were evolving from jingles and product claims into lifestyle engineering. His era saw TV’s mass reach mature, data-driven targeting begin, and brands learn to sell identities as much as goods. Read against that backdrop, the quote is both pragmatic and chilling: the “ought” isn’t moral; it’s operational. Advertising should work by making the consumer’s inner monologue feel prewritten - desire as a script handed to you in your own voice.
Quote Details
| Topic | Marketing |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Chiat, Jay. (2026, January 17). Advertising ought to work by telling you what it is you want to tell, you should understand what you want us to do, what you want us to think, where you want us to shop. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/advertising-ought-to-work-by-telling-you-what-it-51444/
Chicago Style
Chiat, Jay. "Advertising ought to work by telling you what it is you want to tell, you should understand what you want us to do, what you want us to think, where you want us to shop." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/advertising-ought-to-work-by-telling-you-what-it-51444/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Advertising ought to work by telling you what it is you want to tell, you should understand what you want us to do, what you want us to think, where you want us to shop." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/advertising-ought-to-work-by-telling-you-what-it-51444/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.
