The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

Cultural references in the poem

• "Plug in, turn on, and ", a reference to Timothy Leary's pro-LSD phrase "Turn on, tune in, drop out."
• "Skag", slang term for heroin
• Xerox, best-known manufacturer of photocopying machines
• Richard Nixon, 37th president of the United States
• John N. Mitchell, U.S. Attorney General under Nixon
• General Creighton Abrams, one of the commanders of military operations in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War
• Mendel Rivers, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee during the period of the Vietnam War
• Spiro Agnew, 39th vice president of the United States under Nixon
• "Hog maws", sometimes misheard as "hog moss", soul food made from the stomach of a pig
• Schaefer Award Theatre, an anthology of theatrical films that aired on several U.S. TV stations
• Natalie Wood, film actress
• Steve McQueen, film actor
• Bullwinkle, cartoon character
• Julia, a TV half-hour sitcom series starring Diahann Carroll.
• "Give your mouth sex appeal", from Ultra Brite toothpaste advertising
• "The revolution will not get rid of the nubs", the nubs being beard stubble, from a Gillette Techmatic razor advertisement of the period
• Willie Mays, baseball player
• "NBC will not be able to predict the winner at 8:32", a reference to television networks predicting the winner of presidential elections shortly after the polls close at 8 pm.
• Whitney Young, civil rights leader
• Roy Wilkins, executive director of the NAACP
• Watts, a neighborhood in Los Angeles, alluding to the Watts Riots of 1965
• "Red, black, and green", the colors of the Pan-African flag
• Green Acres, a U.S. television sitcom
• The Beverly Hillbillies, a U.S. television sitcom
• "Hooterville Junction"
• Dick and Jane, white children, a brother and sister, featured in American basal readers
• Search for Tomorrow, a popular U.S. television soap opera
• "Hairy-armed women liberationists", participants in second-wave feminism
• Jackie Onassis, the late U.S. President John F. Kennedy's widow, seen during the period in television broadcasts of Kennedy memorials
• Jim Webb, U.S. composer
• Francis Scott Key, lyricist of "The Star-Spangled Banner"
• Glen Campbell, U.S. pop/country music singer, then hosting The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour
• Tom Jones, Welsh pop music singer, then hosting This Is Tom Jones
• Johnny Cash, U.S. country music singer, then hosting The Johnny Cash Show
• Engelbert Humperdinck, British pop music singer, then hosting The Engelbert Humperdinck Show
• Rare Earth, all-white U.S. pop music band signed to Motown Records
• "White tornado", advertising slogan for Ajax cleanser, "Ajax cleans like a white tornado"
• "White lightning", a slang term for moonshine, the name of a 1950s country and western song by George Jones, and an American psychedelic rock band.
• "Dove in your bedroom", an advertising image associated with Dove anti-perspirant deodorant
• Reference to "Put a tiger in your tank", an Esso advertising slogan created by Chicago copywriter Emery Smith
• "Giant in your toilet bowl," a reference to Liquid-Plumr commercials saying that it cleared so well it was like "having a giant in your toilet bowl" with an animation of a large arm using a plunger on your toilet.
• Reference to "Things go better with Coke", a Coca-Cola advertising slogan
• Reference to "Fights germs that may cause bad breath", from Listerine advertising
• Reference to "Let Hertz put you in the driver's seat", advertising slogan for Hertz car rental

  In popular culture

• The Sarah Jones song "Your Revolution," a feminist interpretation of the song criticizing misogyny in mainstream hip hop, with the key line "Your revolution will not happen between these thighs". A radio station that played the song was fined by the FCC.
• The opening line of "Welcome to the World of the Plastic Beach", performed by Snoop Dogg on the Gorillaz album Plastic Beach, is "The revolution will be televised".
• In 2010, New Statesman magazine listed it as one of the "Top 20 Political Songs".
• In 2011, after Scott-Heron's death, Lupe Fiasco released a poem dedicated to him titled "The Television Will Not Be Revolutionized".
• In June 2013, a sign quoting the poem's title was posted on a window inside the Greek state broadcaster ERT as employees resisted its closure by the government under pressure from the troika of the EU, ECB and the IMF to cut public spending under their austerity regime.
• Released in September 2013, South Korean entertainer G-Dragon's "Coup d'Etat" contains a vocal sample of "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised".
• The song "Countdown to Armageddon", performed by Public Enemy, contains the lyric "This time around, the revolution will not be televised".
• The song "Wu-Revolution" by the Wu-Tang Clan contains background lyrics "The revolution will be televised." and "The revolution should be televised." as a variation on Scott-Heron's message.
• The song "6 Summers" by Anderson Paak states "The revolution will not be televised/ But it will be streamed live/ In 1080p on your pea-brain head in the face ass mobile device/ Alright?"
• Started during a protest in Oregon by TikTok user @themannyspotted and perpetuated by left-leaning Gen-Z users on social media, the spin "The Manny Will Not Televised" was coined as a chant of revolution and a call to reform the police. The phrase was used as captions for graffiti of Manny Heffley from the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, a character regarded in internet culture for his simplistic design and aversion to conformity.