Popular expression of hot and very deeply felt political issues has always contained that kind of thing though. Ok, granted there weren't any 'Free the Slaves' stickers on the carriages during the civil war, but there were coins, and plaques and ceramics, and other such objects with pictures and slogans: such as the abolitionist emblem of the kneeling slave, in chains, and the slogan 'Am I not a man and a brother' across the top.
From History Org.
Quote:
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Any political movement needs a symbol and a motto. The American abolitionists found theirs in the kneeling slave in chains, surrounded by the words "Am I Not a Man and a Brother." First adopted by the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade in England, it became the enduring emblem of abolitionists and antislavery activists on both sides of the Atlantic. Josiah Wedgwood manufactured unglazed stoneware cameos like this medallion [at right] by the thousands and gave them away to supporters of the movement. Benjamin Franklin, always one to recognize good publicity when he saw it, thought the cameos would be an effective weapon against the slave trade.
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This kind of sloganizing in European and American popular and political culture has deep roots. I don't see it as trivialising.