The Art of Propaganda

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The Art of Propaganda

• American Government
• Mr. Bentley

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The Intent

• 1) Propaganda is the use of arguments to convince
  someone of something
• a) Whether it is to vote for them (campaign
  sings), buy their product (advertisements), or
  convince us that their point of view is right
  (Public Service Announcements).
• 2) Propaganda is a way of manipulating people.
• 3) Regardless of the Propagandas intentionsand
  they can be goodPropaganda is ALWAYS bad
• a) It is designed to do your thinking for you.
• b)It is designed to discourage you from digging
  deeper.

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The Intent (cond.)

• 4) Propaganda clouds reality and gets in the way
  of clear and honest thinking.
• 5) Blind acceptance of Propaganda is the
  objective of those perpetuating it.

4
Ten Commandments of Propaganda

• 1) Divide and Conquer
• a) More small groups are easier to pit against
  each other
• 2) Tell the people what they want
• a) Pander to the masses
• 3) The bigger the lie, the more people will
  believe it
• a) Make statements grandiose and loud
• 4) ALWAYS appeal to the lowest common denominator
• a) Its O.K. to dumb it down

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Ten Commandments of Propaganda (cond)

• 5)Generalize as much as possible
• a) Paint in broad strokes
• 6) Use "expert" testimonial
• a) Have someone known or relatable pitch it
• 7) Refer often to the "authority" of your office
• a) Remind public of knowledge and power

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Ten Commandments of Propaganda (cond)

• 8) Stack the cards with "information"
• a) Use as much supportive evidence as possible
• 9) A confused people are easily led
• a) More informed means more skeptical
• 10) Get the "plain folks" onto the "bandwagon"
• a) Appeal to the common man he will follow

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Propaganda Techniques

• The following is a list of Propaganda Techniques
  that are commonly used in advertising, politics,
  etc.
• Techniques can be used in combination, or
  individually. Here are the most common methods

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Propaganda Techniques

• Association uses positive feelings for something
  and applies them to something else.
• a. Use of patriotic symbols around July 4 to
  sell grills

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Propaganda Techniques

• 2. Testimonial people endorsing certain idea or
  belief
• a. Tiger Woods Nike

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Propaganda Techniques

• 3. Fancy Words use of extravagant languagea.
  Sanitary engineer garbage collector

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Propaganda Techniques

• 4. Word Magic emotional wordsa. Car ads that
  use words like sleek, powerful, aggressive,
  etc.

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Propaganda Techniques

• 5. Misery portraying a sympathetic scene
• a. Showing starving children to encourage people
  to donate money

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Propaganda Techniques

• 6. Simplicity Repetition using basic language
  and common symbolsa. McDonalds Im lovin it!

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Propaganda Techniques

• 7. Plain Folks use of ordinary people to portray
  common mana. Every Wrangler Jeans commercial
  EVER made

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Propaganda Techniques

• 8. Bandwagon encourages immediate supporta.
  dont be left out, for 2 days only

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Propaganda Techniques

• 9. Name Calling attacks someones reputation,
  actions or recorda. See most any negative
  campaign commercial

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Propaganda Techniques

• 10. Strawman phony issue, exaggerates
  argumenta. Pro-military means you support men
  dying in war

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Propaganda Techniques

• 11. Hasty Generalization jumping to
  conclusionsa. women cant drive

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Propaganda Techniques

• 12 Oversimplification too simple to account for
  a complex realitya. I dont do well in school
  because Im too stupid.

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Propaganda Techniques

• 13. Black or Whiteonly two choices no
  in-betweensa. Youre either with us or against
  us.

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Propaganda Techniques

• 14. Snow Job bury people under a mound of
  meaningless wordsa. Nine out of ten dentist
  would recommend this toothpaste if they were
  stuck on a desert island w/ a pet chimpanzee, and
  three blocks of cheese.

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Propaganda Techniques

• 15. False Opposites misuse of oppositesa.
  Twisting meaning of data to fit the conclusion
  you want

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Propaganda Techniques

• 16. Out of Context ignore unfavorable content
  and use only a part of information that supports
  claima. One of the worst movies ever, despite
  the performance of...

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Propaganda Techniques

• 17. Contradictory Assumptions two things that
  both cannot be truea. Cutting taxes, increasing
  defense spending and not cutting programs

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Propaganda Techniques

• 18. Unproven Assumption stated as if fact, but
  cannot support ita. I will never need to know
  history. Why should I have to study it?

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Propaganda Techniques

• 19. Circular Reasoning assumption based on
  another assumptiona. Need to work to get a car,
  but need a car to get to work

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Propaganda Techniques

• 20. Irrelevant Issue a shift to secondary issue
  that is less important orcontroversiala.
  Politicians whose answers to questions have
  nothing to do w/ the question that was asked
  (just watch a political debate!).

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Propaganda Techniques

• 21. Direct Order a command to do somethinga.
  Just Do It.

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Propaganda Techniques

• 22. Scapegoating blaming someone or something to
  make oneself look gooda. The Democratic
  Congress is to blame, The Republican
  Administrations policies created this mess.