Solomon,Smith,Barney

[John B Kelly]

What I love about the SSB ads is their conscious use of inapplicable words
like "work"  and "earn," as if these brokers are building houses or
something.  Their latest motto, "Success is Earned," is wonderfully
"rich": it accomplishes the ideological feat of justifying current wealth
-- if you are now successful (ie rich), then by definition you must have
earned (deserved) it; at the same time it makes prospective success
(wealth)  contingent upon correct action such that 1) you need SSB to help
you get there, and 2) if you don't get there, it's because you didn't earn
(deserve) it -- in other words, "Failure is Merited." 

John Kelly