Propaganda

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Propaganda

• English III
• Urban

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What is propaganda?

• Propaganda is the use of arguments to convince
  someone of something.
• Advertisers use propaganda to persuade people to
  buy their products.
• Politicians use propaganda techniques to convince
  people to vote for them.
• Special interest groups such as businesses and
  labor unions use propaganda techniques to
  try to convince us that their point of
  view is correct.

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• You probably use propaganda yourself when you try
  to convince your parents that you should be
  allowed to do something!
• Its a form of manipulation it clouds reality
  and gets in the way of honest thinking.

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Bandwagon Popular Appeal

• The bandwagon approach is just that, getting on
  the bandwagon. The propagandist puts forth the
  idea that everyone else is doing this, or
  everyone else supports this case/person, so
  should you. It appeals to the conformist in all
  of us No one wants to be left out of a
  popular trend!

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Bandwagon - example

• Florida State wins the National Championship this
  year. Next year admission applications skyrocket
  because everyone wants to be a part of the
  winning.

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Testimonial

• This is a celebrity endorsement of a philosophy,
  movement, or candidate. In advertising, for
  example, athletes are paid to promote shoes,
  food, etc. In political circles, movie, TV, and
  rock stars lend credibility and power to a
  political cause/candidate. Just a photo of a
  movie star at a political rally can generate more
  interest in that issue/candidate or cause
  thousands/millions of people to become
  supporters.

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Testimonial - example

• Jimmy Buffet made a stand against BP by holding a
  free concert in Gulf Shores, Alabama. Many
  people traveled from all over to see the concert,
  and many others tuned in on TV to watch. This
  supported the oil spill awareness, as well as
  Jimmy.

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Plain Folks

• Here, the candidate or cause is identified with
  common people from everyday walks of life. The
  idea is to make the candidate/ cause come off as
  grassroots and all-American. The propagandist
  will often attempt to use the accent of the
  audience as well as using specific
  idioms or jokes.

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Plain Folks - example

• After a morning speech to wealthy Democratic
  donors, President Obama stops by McDonalds for a
  burger, fries, and a photo-op.

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Transfer

• It is an attempt to make the subject view a
  certain item in the same way as they view another
  item, to link the two in the subjects mind. Can
  be used in a positive or negative way.

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Transfer - example

• A local car dealership has Saints stickers all
  over their cars, inside the offices, and the
  employees are even wearing jerseys. They are
  trying to associate themselves with something we
  (down her in MS) like, in hopes that we will
  want to purchase from someone who has
  something in common with we.

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Fear

• This technique is very popular among political
  parties and Political Action Committees. The
  idea is to present a dreaded circumstance and
  usually follow it up with the kind of behavior
  needed to avoid that horrible event.

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Fear - example

• This type of propaganda was popular during WWII
  this poster encouraged people to buy War Bonds.

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Logical Fallacies False Analogies

• Applying logic, one can usually draw a conclusion
  from one or more established premises. In this
  type of propaganda, however, the premises may be
  accurate but the conclusion is not.

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Logical Fallacies - example

• Premise 1 Mrs. Urban supports gun control.
• Premise 2 Communist regimes have always
  supported gun control.
• Conclusion Mrs. Urban is a communist.
• The conclusion is created by a twisting of
  logic, and is therefore a fallacy.

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Glittering Generalities

• This is related to what is happening in TRANSFER.
  Here, a generally accepted virtue is usually
  employed to stir up favorable emotions. The
  problem is that these words mean different things
  to different people and are often manipulated for
  the propagandists use. The words are used in a
  positive sense. Words often included
  democracy, family values, rights,
  civilization, and even the word American.

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Glittering Generalities - example

• An ad by a cigarette manufacturer proclaims to
  smokers Dont let them take your rights away!
  (Rights is a powerful word, something that
  stirs the emotions of many, but few on either
  side would agree on exactly what the rights
  of smokers are.)

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Either/Or Fallacy

• This technique is also called black-and-white
  thinking because only two choices are given. You
  are either for something or against it, there is
  no middle ground or shades of gray. It is used
  to polarize issues, and negates all attempts to
  find common ground.

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Name Calling

• This is the opposite of the GLITTERING
  GENERALITIES approach. Name calling ties a
  person or cause to a largely perceived negative
  image.

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Name Calling - example

• In a campaign speech to a logging company, the
  Congressman referred to his environmentally
  conscious opponent as a tree hugger.

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Repetition

• When the product name or a key word is repeated
  several times.

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Repetition - example

• Target uses repetition in their television ads
  and on their billboards. Their symbol, the
  target, is placed in numerous places.

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Card Stacking

• This term comes from stacking a deck of cards in
  your favor. Card stacking is used to slant a
  message. Keywords or unfavorable statistics may
  be omitted in an ad or commercial, leading to a
  series of half truths. Keep in mind that and
  advertiser is under no obligation to give the
  truth, the whole-truth, and nothing but the
  truth.

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Card Stacking - example

• If a brand of snack food is loaded with sugar
  (and calories), the commercial may boast that the
  product is low in fat, which implies that it is
  also low in calories.

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• Dont forget that advertisements, like
  literature, have to create a MOOD and always have
  TONE. When you analyze ads, be sure to take into
  account the following

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• Music and its mood.
• The type of actor/character used (or absence
  thereof e.g. GEICOS gecko)
• Allusion (mythological, Biblical,
  folklore/literature, historical)
• Sleep medicines use Abe Lincoln and the
  groundhog).

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• Trends in fashion or lifestyles (brought into the
  commercial to make it trendy
• Values (moral, ethical, religious, etc.)

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• Visual Imagery colors and what they mean/how
  they create mood, lighting, vantage point,
  realism/fantasy (cartoon vs. real people)
• Symbols and what they mean