Propaganda
English II
Propaganda
• Propaganda:
– A type of persuasive monologue or one-sided
messaged intended to coerce others to agree
with an idea or take a particular action.
– What does this mean:
• Basically propaganda is used to convince the
general public to agree with someone or
something or to do something.
Propaganda
• Two types of propaganda:
– Good propaganda
• Encourages people to do something positive
– Raising money to support a charity
– Staying in school
– Say no to drugs
– Bad propaganda
• Attempts to convince people to do something that
might be harmful to themselves, their beliefs, or
their financial situation
– Spending money on products you don’t really need
Propaganda
• Why is this important?
– As a young adult, you are the most targeted
group for “bad” propaganda.
– Groups and companies want to take
advantage of your insecurities (and especially
your money) to make you act a certain way.
• Here are some propaganda techniques that you
should recognize…FYI: they will be on the OGT!
Testimonials
• Testimonials:
– A common technique where famous people
endorse products although they are not
qualified as experts.
• This is the “Got Milk” of propaganda techniques
Testimonials
• Michael Jordan
endorsed Hanes
underwear for many
years…
– Michael Jordan was a
great basketball
player, but is he an
underwear expert?
– So why would he be
used to endorse this
product?
Testimonials
• “Got Milk” advertisements
are another perfect
example of
advertisements that use
celebrity testimonials.
• Think about it…what do
the Olsen Twins or Misha
Barton know about milk?
– Are they dairy farmers?
– Are they nutrition experts?
• NO!
Appeal to Emotion
(Emotional Words)
• Appeal to emotion is used to create a
strong reaction in readers or viewers of
advertisements and speeches (YOU!)
– These advertisements often use words with
strong connotations and visuals that appeal to
sympathy to get you to buy or to do
something.
• This is the “Tammy Faye” of propaganda
techniques.
Appeal to Emotion
• Have you ever seen
those late-night
advertisements for the
Christian Children’s
Fund?
• These advertisements
employ an appeal to
emotion.
– For just seventy-five cents
a day you can feed a
starving child.
– If you don’t do it, who will?
Appeal to Emotion
• Politicians often use
appeals to emotion in
their speeches.
– This helps politicians get
elected and push laws and
issues through.
• Other charities and nonprofit organizations use
appeals to emotion in
their advertisements.
– By using appeals to
emotion, charities are
“tugging at your heart
strings”, making it much
easier to ask for donations.
Bait and Switch
• To define bait and switch we need to look at the
typical set-up of a bait and switch tactic:
– A seller advertises a product for a ridiculously low
price (the bait)
– When the buyer comes in to purchase the product, it’s
been sold out.
– The seller then pressures the buyer to purchase a
more expensive item.
• This is the “Day After Thanksgiving Sale” type of
propaganda.
– THIS FORM OF PROPAGANDA IS ILLEGAL UNDER
FEDERAL AND STATE LAWS!
Bait and Switch
• I know it is difficult to see, but if
you look closely at the Comp
USA advertisement, you will
see that HP laptops are on
sale for a very low price.
– If you look at the fine print, you
will realize that less than 50
laptops are available.
• This would become a bait and
switch tactic if when the buyer
got to the store the HP laptops
were sold out, and a
salesperson pressured the
buyer into purchasing a Dell
laptop for a much higher price.
Bait and Switch
• Just because there are
laws prohibiting bait and
switch tactics doesn’t
mean that companies still
don’t use this method.
– Your age group is the mosttargeted audience for this
tactic since you have the
most expendable income.
– Generic brands of some of
the pictured items are often
used to lure you in, but
once you get there, bait
and switch tactics are
employed.
Bandwagon
• Bandwagon is a technique in which the
reader is make to feel that a great
movement is beginning. Readers are
made to believe they will be idiots or
outcasts if they do not join the movement.
– This is often associated with In-Crowd Appeal:
a kind of flattery which encourages viewers to
identify with an admired, envied group.
• This is the “Debunkify Myths” form of propaganda.
Bandwagon/In-Crowd Appeal
•
•
We discussed good propaganda
and bad propaganda at the
beginning of this slide show.
Although the Debunkify tour is a
good form of propaganda, it
incorporates bandwagon
techniques.
The advertisement to the right says,
“Only 1 out of 5 people smoke…So
much for everyone smokes”. The
poster shows four attractive women
and a person dressed as Death.
– This campaign/advertisement
attempts to gain the support of
teens to stop the teen smoking
epidemic.
– The Debunkify campaign wants
to make teens who smoke feel
like outsiders…they want these
teens to feel like they’ve missed
missed out, and they aren’t cool
because the smoke.
Bandwagon/In-Crowd Appeal
• Although only two people are
shown, the Hollister
advertisement uses in-crowd
appeal.
– These two beautiful people
are wearing Hollister clothes;
don’t you want to be beautiful
like these two?
• Soda commercials use incrowd appeal too.
– Don’t you want to be as happy
as this beautiful woman; you
can infer that her friend is very
happy too.
• D.A.R.E. uses bandwagon
techniques to get students
involved.
Glittering Generalities
• Glittering generalities are descriptions that
sound great, but they are praises that you
cannot prove.
– Glittering generalities are used to describe
products, issues, and political candidates.
• This is the “GI Joe” form of propaganda.
Glittering Generalities
• GI Joe is not a real
person, but the GI Joe
jingle contains excellent
examples of glittering
generalities.
– GI Joe is the “Real
American Hero”, but what
does that really mean?
• What is an “American
Hero”
• What makes GI Joe more
real than Spiderman or
Superman?
Glittering Generalities