# Quote — Max Barry, Syrup

> “Art and marketing can’t coexist,” Tina says. “It’s either one or the other.”
>
> “Not this again,” 6 says from the sofa.
>
> Tina ignores her. “I made the film for you with the intention of appealing to a bunch of corporate suits. That I used artistic techniques to do it is irrelevant.”
>
> “Just because it’s aimed at a particular market means it’s not art?” I say.
>
> Tina nods once. “Exactly.”
>
> I frown. “What if I take a work of art and market it? It’s still art, right?”
>
> “You can’t take artwork and just tweak it to be more commercially appealing.” She sips at her beer. “Not without destroying its artistic merit.”
>
> “Tina, this is so crap,” 6 says, standing up. “If I showed you a painting but didn’t tell you whether it was created by a starving artist or an agency commissioned to produce it, you couldn’t tell me whether it was art or not.”
>
> “Oh, I think I’d be able to tell,” Tina says.
>
> 6 shifts impatiently. “Who cares what the intent was? It’s the result that matters.”
>
> “The intent is not divorceable from the result,” Tina says. “I know you people don’t want to face that, but it’s true.”
>
> “You don’t want to face the fact that marketing is the greatest producer of art on the planet. There’s packaging, copy, TV advertising—can you tell me why that’s not art?”
>
> “If you can’t make that distinction yourself, I won’t be able to explain it to you.”
>
> “Oh, right,” 6 says, “you think some hack’s poems that no one ever reads are more important than movie half the world sees? A lot more people have seen a Coke can than a van Gogh.”
>
> “I’ve noticed you corporate people do this,” Tina says. “Confuse popularity with quality.”
>
> “It’s a democratic society, Tina,” 6 says. “Your opinion of what’s quality is no more valid than mine. Popularity is quality. And so marketers are today’s real artists.”
>
> “Drink, anyone?” I say.

- Author: [Max Barry](https://www.leafyquotes.com/max-barry.md)
- Book: [Syrup](https://www.leafyquotes.com/max-barry/syrup.md)
- Page: 186
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Max_Barry#Syrup_(1999)) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/max-barry/syrup/art-and-marketing

## More from this book

> “You.” He stares at me for a second, then shakes his head. “You told me the truth.”
>
> I don’t know what to say. “Yeah.”
>
> “Scat,” he says, a pained expression on his face, “haven’t you learned anything?”

p. 292 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/max-barry/syrup/you-he-stares.md)

> mktg case study #13: mktg magazines
>
> GIVE AWAY FREE CRAP (PREFERABLY ADVERTISER-SUPPLIED FREE CRAP). DOESN’T MATTER HOW WORTHLESS OR USELESS IT IS: SALES WILL RISE. STRANGE BUT TRUE.

p. 191 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/max-barry/syrup/mktg-case-study-13.md)

> “It’s all responsibility and no control,” 6 says. “The classic path to failure.”

p. 204 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/max-barry/syrup/its-all-responsibility.md)