In the tumult of the digital revolution, McLuhan is relevant anew. But if you think you know Marshall McLuhan, or what he stood for – think again…
Where in the waste is the wisdom?” – James Joyce
In 1971, Marshall McLuhan announced a new product.
With chemist Ross Hall, his nephew, McLuhan patented a formula for the removal of urine odor from underpants. The unique advantage of McLuhan’s formula, for which he registered the trademark Prohtex, was that it removed the urine odor without masking other, more interesting smells – that of perspiration, for instance. In the aural and tactile environment of preliterate man, McLuhan explained, BO had been a valuable means of communication. When electronic technology turned the world into a global village, tribal odors would make a comeback, too.