WHAT IS PROPAGANDA?
• INFORMATION, IDEAS, OR RUMORS DELIBERATELY SPREAD TO HELP OR HARM A PERSON, GROUP,
OR MOVEMENT
• IN OTHER WORDS…ANYTHING MEANT TO CONVINCE YOU TO FEEL OR ACT A CERTAIN WAY.
FOR EXAMPLE…
• HAVE YOU EVER WATCHED A COMMERCIAL OR SEEN AN AD AND BEEN CONVINCED TO:
• BUY A PRODUCT?
• USE A SERVICE?
• FEEL A CERTAIN WAY ABOUT A PERSON OR IDEA?
PROPAGANDA PEOPLE!
ADVERTISING AND PROPAGANDA
• THESE TWO GO HAND-IN-HAND
• “ADVERTISING IS THE ART OF CONVINCING PEOPLE TO SPEND MONEY THEY DON’T HAVE FOR
SOMETHING THEY DON’T NEED.”
—WILL ROGERS
WARNING
• THOSE WHO CONTROL MASS MEDIA, WHO CONTROL PROPAGANDA, EXERCISE TREMENDOUS
CONTROL OVER THE INDIVIDUAL.
• TODAY THE ADVERTISER AND THE POLITICIAN USE THE MASS MEDIA TO INFLUENCE OPINION,
ATTITUDE, OR COURSE OF ACTION; IN THE FUTURE THE MASS MEDIA MIGHT BE USED TO
CONTROL OPINION, ATTITUDE, OR COURSE OF ACTION AS IN BRAVE NEW WORLD.
TYPES OF PROPAGANDA
• CARD STACKING- THE PRESENTATION OF ONLY THE DETAILS, STATISTICS AND OTHER
INFORMATION THAT IMPACTS PUBLIC OPINION POSITIVELY. IN OTHER WORDS, THE BAD STUFF
IS LEFT OUT. MAKES THE PRESENTATION LOPSIDED.
• NAME CALLING – LINKS A PERSON, OR IDEA, TO A NEGATIVE SYMBOL.
• EXAMPLES: COMMIE, FASCIST, YUPPIE
• GLITTERING GENERALITIES – USE OF VIRTUE WORDS; THE OPPOSITE OF NAME CALLING, I.E.,
LINKS A PERSON, OR IDEA, TO A POSITIVE SYMBOL.
• EXAMPLES: DEMOCRACY, PATRIOTISM, FAMILY
TYPES OF PROPAGANDA
• TRANSFER/TRANSFERENCE – A DEVICE BY WHICH THE PROPAGANDIST LINKS THE AUTHORITY
OR PRESTIGE OF SOMETHING WELL-RESPECTED AND REVERED, SUCH AS CHURCH OR NATION,
TO SOMETHING HE WOULD HAVE US ACCEPT.
• EXAMPLE: A POLITICAL ACTIVIST CLOSES HER SPEECH WITH A PRAYER
• TESTIMONIAL – A PUBLIC FIGURE OR A CELEBRITY PROMOTES OR ENDORSES A PRODUCT, A
POLICY, OR A POLITICAL CANDIDATE.
• EXAMPLES: AN ATHLETE APPEARS ON THE WHEATIES BOX; AN ACTOR SPEAKS AT A
POLITICAL RALLY
TYPES OF PROPAGANDA
• PLAIN FOLKS – ATTEMPT TO CONVINCE THE AUDIENCE THAT A PROMINENT PERSON AND HIS
IDEAS ARE “OF THE PEOPLE.”
• EXAMPLES: A PROMINENT POLITICIAN EATS AT MCDONALD’S; AN ACTRESS IS
PHOTOGRAPHED SHOPPING FOR GROCERIES
• BANDWAGON – MAKES THE APPEAL THAT “EVERYONE ELSE IS DOING IT, AND SO SHOULD YOU.”
• EXAMPLES: AN AD STATES THAT “EVERYONE IS RUSHING DOWN TO THEIR FORD DEALER”
• FEAR – PLAYS ON DEEP-SEATED FEARS; WARNS THE AUDIENCE THAT DISASTER WILL RESULT IF
THEY DO NOT FOLLOW A PARTICULAR COURSE OF ACTION.
• EXAMPLE: AN INSURANCE COMPANY PAMPHLET INCLUDES PICTURES OF HOUSES
DESTROYED FLOODS, FOLLOWED UP BY DETAILS ABOUT HOME-OWNERS’ INSURANCE.
TYPES OF PROPAGANDA
• BAD LOGIC – AN ILLOGICAL MESSAGE IS NOT NECESSARILY PROPAGANDISTIC; IT CAN BE JUST A
LOGICAL MISTAKE; IT IS PROPAGANDA IF LOGIC IS MANIPULATED DELIBERATELY TO PROMOTE A
CAUSE.
• EXAMPLE: SENATOR X WANTS TO REGULATE THE POWER INDUSTRY. ALL COMMUNIST
GOVERNMENTS REGULATE THEIR POWER INDUSTRIES. SENATOR X IS A COMMUNIST.
• UNWARRANTED EXTRAPOLATION – MAKING HUGE PREDICTIONS ABOUT THE FUTURE ON THE
BASIS OF A FEW SMALL FACTS.
• EXAMPLE: IF THE U.S. APPROVES NAFTA, THOUSANDS OF JOBS AND FACTORIES WILL MOVE
TO MEXICO.
HUXLEY’S MESSAGE
• “IN THE 1950S, HUXLEY ARGUES, PROPAGANDA REPRESENTS THE PRINCIPAL TOOL OF THE
"POWER ELITE," C. WRIGHT MILLS' TERM FOR THE GOVERNMENT AND BUSINESS LEADERS
CONTROLLING COMMUNICATION AND THE ECONOMY. THROUGH COMMERCIALS, SUBLIMINAL
MESSAGES, AND CAREFUL SUPPRESSION OF CHALLENGING TRUTHS, HUXLEY DECLARES,
PROPAGANDA IS INFILTRATING THE LANGUAGE OF SOCIETY, BECOMING PERHAPS THE ONLY WAY
TO SPEAK AT ALL. IF THE TREND CONTINUES, WESTERNERS MAY BE IN DANGER OF BECOMING AS
UNCONSCIOUSLY MANIPULATED AND ENSLAVED AS THE CITIZENS OF THE BRAVE NEW WORLD.”
EXIT SLIP
• HUXLEY’S MESSAGE IS CLEAR: BEWARE OF THE POWER OF PROPAGANDA!
• WHAT ROLE DOES PROPAGANDA PLAY IN OUR SOCIETY? (3-4 SENTENCES)
• DO YOU THINK WE ARE MOVING TOWARD A FUTURE WHERE PEOPLE ARE CONTROLLED BY PROPAGANDA?
EXPLAIN. (4-5 SENTENCES)