Better Living Through Chemistry
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The phrase "Better Living Through Chemistry" is a variant of a DuPont advertising slogan, "Better Things for Better Living...Through Chemistry." DuPont adopted it in 1935 and was their slogan until 1982 when the "Through Chemistry" part was dropped. Since 1999, their slogan has been "The miracles of science".[1]
This phrase became popular as culture shifted from mod to hippie in the later half of the 1960s. Protesters would show up for a rally, perhaps to protest a chemical plant, wearing DuPont propaganda buttons, which bore this slogan.
Vietnam War protests in the 1960s also targeted Dow Chemical, a manufacturer of the defoliant Agent Orange, which contained known carcinogen dioxin.
The phrase "Better Living Through Chemistry" was used on products that were not affiliated with DuPont to circumvent trademark infringement.[citation needed] This transmutation is now more commonly used than the original. This statement is used for commentary on several different topics, from the promotion of illegal drugs, to the praise of chemicals and plastics, to the criticism of the same, sarcastically.
This phrase is sometimes associated with Aldous Huxley's book Brave New World, though it does not actually appear in the text of the book.[citation needed]
Contents |
[edit] References in popular culture
[edit] Music
- Album title from 1996 by Fatboy Slim
- Song on the 2000 album Rated R by Queens of the Stone Age
- Song on the 2005 album Planets by Adema
- Song on the 2008 album Actor/Actress by Fear Of Music
- "What's the Altitude" on the album The Audience's Listening by Cut Chemist
- Deathcore band All Shall Perish titled a song "Better Living through Catastrophe" on their 2006 album The Price of Existence
[edit] Films
- The Army chemist in the film Jacob's Ladder uses this phrase in a deleted scene (and alternate ending), where he finds a cure to Jacob's condition: "Better living through chemistry, that's my motto..."
- In The Toxic Avenger, the mayor at one point says, "Here's to better living through chemistry."
- In Alien Raiders (2008) one of the characters says "Too much 'better living through chemistry' screws 'em up real good."
- In Down With Love, Catcher Block (Ewan McGregor) says "It stays up all the way all day long, man. that's the miracle I was telling you about - better living through chemistry". Refers to the redundancy of garters to hold up socks made with modern materials, overheard by secretary on intercom, who understands the discussion to refer to something else entirely...
- Better Living Through Circuitry is a movie about the Electronic Music scene of the 1990's.
- In the 1968 film Psych-Out (starring Jack Nicholson), the slogan can be seen painted in psychedelic colors on a car bumper following a scene where a character drops a sugar cube of acid.
[edit] Television
- US cable television station Nickelodeon used the slogan "Better living through television" for their adult-oriented Nick at Nite programming during the 1990s.
- Spider-Man used the phrase in Spider-Man: The Animated Series as he broke off a bomb attached to his wrist with liquid oxygen.
- The 14 Nov 1986 episode of Miami Vice was named "Better Living Through Chemistry" on . In the episode, Tubbs is framed by his former partner after the abduction of a chemist needed by drug dealers to complete the formula for a designer drug.
[edit] Books
- Don DeLillo appropriated the slogan "Better Things for Better Living Through Chemistry" as the title for Part 5 of his 1997 novel Underworld.
- "Better Living Through Chemistry" is the name of a chapter in the novel The Time Traveler's Wife
[edit] Other
- "Better Living Through Chemistry" is the name of the recreational drug related forum on textfile and BBS website Totse.com.
- "Better Living Through Chemistry" is the name of a mission in the computer game Evil Genius
- "Better Living Through Chemistry" is the name of the racial trait of the Goblin playable Race in the World of Warcraft expansion Cataclysm, which grant them Alchemy skill +15 and their potions give them more health/mana.
- "BLTC" is the name of a research agenda started by philosopher David Pearce to eliminate suffering from all sentience
- A popular Fallout 3 mod called "Better Living Through Chems" (see Fallout 3 Nexus for more) modifies many of the visuals and effects of drugs in the game, while adding a slew of real-world drugs into the game as well.
[edit] References
- ^ Trif Alatzas (1999-04-29). "DuPont touts 'miracles'". The News Journal (Wilmington, DE). ""We need to get away from the word 'things,' " [DuPont Chairman and Chief Executive Charles O.] Holliday said. "Because we're also about providing knowledge.""
