John and Yoko Lennon, the self-styled peace propagandists of the pop-rock set, have been in Toronto to launch their campaign of ‘peace persuasions’.

After their well publicized ‘bed in for peace’ in Montreal, earlier this year, they now plan to market their slogan ‘War is Over! If you want it.’

In the best Madison Avenue advertising tradition, John and Yoko will proclaim the advantages of their product via billboards, handbills, posters and all the mass news media. As John told his admirers last June, ‘plug peace — it‘s merchandise. You’ve got to outsell the businessmen . . . Make people aware there is an alternative to war.’ It all sounds very charming. John and Yoko will undoubtedly offer multi renditions of their ’give peace a chance’ song, wear and send an extravagant array of flowers and be interviewed over and over again.

Unfortunately peace or love or even hate, for that matter are not ‘products’ which can be adequately dealt with by the same techniques which work so well in selling soap.

Propaganda and mass advertising destroy social institutions and replace them with economic institutions which are incapable of giving expression to the ideal of public or personal peace.

The Lennon campaign has nothing to do with peace; it has only to do with the pursuit of fads and inception. Their campaign contributes nothing to the peace which we ostensibly celebrate each December 25.