The masses

Something is designed to “appeal to the masses” if it’s meant to be popular, even if it’s not high quality. When the BBC started over 100 years ago, it had many types of programming. Lower-quality dramas were designed to appeal to the masses. These programs were lower quality, but were designed to be popular. By contrast, other programs were considered culturally superior, but were less popular.

McDonald’s appeals to the masses: it can attract a lot of customers, even if we know it’s not the best quality meal. Romantic comedy movies appeal to the masses: a lot of people will go see movies that follow this basic formula. More artistic dramas might be higher quality, but attract fewer people.