No one ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public.

Often attributed to H. L. Mencken, the line expresses a cynical view of mass culture: commercial success is more reliably achieved by appealing to the lowest common denominator than by assuming refined or demanding public taste. Read as social criticism, it aligns with Mencken’s broader skepticism about American popular opinion and the marketplace’s tendency to reward sensationalism, simplification, and pandering. The quip also functions as a warning about incentives: when profit is the measure, creators and publishers may be pushed toward what sells rather than what elevates, reinforcing a cycle in which “underestimating” the public becomes a rational business strategy.

1) “No one ever lost money underestimating the intelligence of the American public.”
2) “No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people.”
3) “Nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public.”