Propaganda- Art/Graphic Design

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Common persuasion techniques used in

propaganda and commercial advertising

Propaganda

§ The presentation of biased or misleading information, used to promote or publicize a particular political, religious, or sociological cause or point of view.

§ Used primarily to influence and persuade an audience.

§ Presents facts selectively (“Spin”).

§ Uses loaded messages and images to produce an emotional rather than rational response.

Propaganda: Information, esp. of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political, religious, or sociological cause or point of view. Hyper- partisan content. Extreme “spin” on a topic or information.

from Wikipedia: Propaganda is a form of communication aimed towards influencing the attitude of the community toward some cause or position. Propaganda statements may be partly false and partly true. Propaganda is usually repeated and dispersed over a wide variety of media in order to create the chosen result in audience attitudes.

As opposed to impartially providing information, propaganda, in its most basic sense, presents information primarily to influence and persuade an audience. Propaganda often presents facts selectively (thus possibly lying by omission) to encourage a particular synthesis, or uses loaded messages to produce an emotional rather than rational response to the information presented. The desired result is a change of the attitude toward the subject in the target audience to further a political, religious or social agenda. Propaganda can be used as a form of ideological warfare…and can refer to uses that are generally benign or innocuous, such as public health recommendations, signs encouraging citizens to participate in a census or election, or messages encouraging persons to report crimes to law enforcement, among others.

Propaganda isn’t always so easy to define or identify… it can be hard to pin down, for a number of reasons. One reason is that since propaganda is inherently biased, it is based on a particular perspective or point of view, often omitting or avoiding other perspectives, positions, or facts. If a viewer agrees with this position or perspective, or their beliefs align with the messaging, they don’t see it as “propaganda”… merely as truths or facts. From their perspective, the messaging is not biased, manipulative, or one-sided, it’s just “correct”. Someone with opposing views can see the same messaging and have a completely different or opposite response. This is natural. We generally align, ideologically, with what’s familiar to us, with what we know, with perspectives we recognize and maybe have experienced. People often conflate “belief” with “truth” and “opinion” with “fact” . These are not the same things.

We have a tendency to think of propaganda as “bad”, or “evil”… most likely because it’s often associated with conflict can war, and can be a precursor, or, in fact, a catalyst for dehumanization and eliminationism. Propaganda is used in all wars. But propaganda is merely the biased presentation of information towards a particular political, religious, or sociological point of view, with the desired result being a synthesis of that perspective in the mind of the viewer. The information in propaganda may not be “bad”, “evil”, or even incorrect… it may be important, life- saving information. It may be necessary information. The point is that it’s biased, generally not objective, and specifically designed to persuade an audience, and this is why it can be dangerous.

Propaganda methodology:

Another reason propaganda is difficult to pin down is that the underlining agenda of the message may be unclear or opaque. With your choice of contemporary propaganda for assignment #1, think about the intent and agenda of the message, and include these ideas in your essay. Intent and agenda, grammatically, are basically the same thing, but I like to note a difference in the context of propaganda (and probably all advertising). “Intent”, to me, is the WHAT? and HOW? questions. What is the message? How is the message expressed? What is the function of the message? What are they really saying? The answers to these questions can most often be gleaned from the communication itself… it’s usually transparent and obvious.

“Agenda” is the WHY and WHO? questions. Why does this message exist? Why are they trying to get us to think this way? Who produced or created this message? Why are they producing this message? The answers to these questions may also be somewhat transparent – “who” produced the message, for example, may be mentioned or labeled clearly in the communication, or it may be the very person or organization speaking. But often this information is obscured, hidden, or impossible to truly know for sure. There may be more than one agenda. That may sound cynical, and it definitely is, but I think there’s some accuracy to that.

Propaganda methodology:

Agenda: Reasons or causes for the content/propaganda that are often indirect, obscured, or unknown to the general public or audience.

Intent: General purpose of the communication. The direct and/or indirect content and expression of the message.

Propaganda methodology:

• What is the message? • How is the message expressed? • What is the function of the communication?

• Why does this message exist? • Who produced/created/shared this message?

= Result: Change of attitude toward the subject in the target audience to further a political, religious or social agenda

The difference between “propaganda” and “advertising”: It can be very difficult to discern the difference between “propaganda” and what is commonly considered “advertising”, or more accurately, “commercial advertising”. In truth, with just about every piece of designed communication, there is some level of manipulation. “What in marketing is “selling”, in school is “teaching”, in the church is “proselytizing”, in politics is “propagandizing”, and in the military is “indoctrinating”, as one text succinctly puts it. Keep in mind that propaganda is advertising… it’s the advertising (or marketing ) of an ideology, as opposed to a commercial product or service. Both propaganda and commercial advertising can and do utilize the same persuasion tactics and share similarities in definition and motivation. Not all persuasive advertising is propaganda, but all propaganda is persuasive advertising.. While there may be little difference in intention between the two, there may be, at least, a difference in application:

Propaganda is a form of communication aimed towards influencing the attitude of a person or community toward some political, religious, or sociological cause or position, a point of view, an idea, a belief. Usually implemented by political, cultural, and ethnic groups and organizations. Leads to synthesis/integration of an ideology. Advertising is, in general, communication used to promote commercial goods and services, and attempts to influence the attitude of a person or community to convert an existing general need into a specific want or desire. Used/implemented by companies and businesses, generally for profit. Leads to an increase in sales.

…Much of the commercial communication we are exposed to utilizes the promotion of not just products and services that we purchase, but more general cultural beliefs, ideas, and sociological points of view… call it an “ideological umbrella”. The advertisements’ main focus is to create or establish a “lifestyle” or belief system associated with the product, or to form a connection to a common and familiar cultural line of reasoning, often that has no direct connection to the product or service itself… the superimposition of a particular way of thinking or way of living, usually with positive connotations. This ‘lifestyle” or belief system is often the impetus for the product itself. This doesn’t make it propaganda per say. Advertisers may use ideals, political or sociological causes, or beliefs to get people to purchase their product, but the (end) goal is really to sell the product. The idea that commercial advertising is fact based, and only attempts to get you to purchase something is, however, an oversimplification. One really should wonder about the level of these kinds of (often fabricated) sets of ideals and beliefs and the standards that they impose, and the way that companies in turn rely on those standards to sell their products and make a profit. It can very often be the case that in the advertisements, the ideas or beliefs are highlighted to a far greater extent and have far greater significance than the practical reasons for purchasing the product or service.

However, there is plenty of overlap, and, in my opinion, the line between the two can be blurred, especially when addressing contemporary advertising…

(See the ads for Whole Foods and Hellmann’s Mayonnaise, and especially the ad for Nike, in the following slideshow for good examples of commercial advertising that should be considered social propaganda.)

Common persuasion techniques often used in both propaganda campaigns and commercial advertising:

1. Loaded words / Loaded images 2. Glittering Generalities

3. Bandwagon 4. Name Calling

5. Fear 6. Transfer

7. Plain Folks 8. Testimonial

9. Card Stacking 10. Emotional Appeal

These techniques can be used individually but are most often used in combination for greater effect. All the examples in this guide utilize

multiple persuasion tactics. *students may not select any of the images used in this presentation

as their choice for this assignment

1. LOADED WORDS / LOADED IMAGES

Loaded Words / Loaded Images:

§ Emotionally charged words or images that will make you feel strongly about something or someone.

§ Words and images can be used individually, or, most often, together.

§ Can be positive or negative.

§ Almost always present in propaganda.

Loaded words/images

- What are the loaded words and images?

- What emotions do they make you feel?

- Who is the target audience?

- What is the underlying message?

- How do the font styles, colors, copy (text), subtext, image and photography choices emphasize the propaganda technique?

- Is this propaganda effective? Why or why not?

Ask yourself these questions:

Loaded words/images

2. GLITTERING GENERALITIES

Glittering Generalities:

§ Happy, positive, “feel- good” words or slogans. Often short, vague, generalized, and ambiguous.

§ The strength of the glittering generality often relies on its ambiguity, and thus can be processed and defined differently by different people, affecting a larger audience.

-The glittering generality here is the slogan “MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN”, and specifically the word “great”… a vague, feel-good word that illicites a positive emotion in the viewer.

From Wiki: A glittering generality has two qualities: it is vague and it has positive connotations. Words and phrases such as “common good”, “courage”, “freedom”, “hope”… are terms on which people all over the world have powerful associations, and they may have trouble disagreeing with them. However, these words are highly abstract and ambiguous, and meaningful differences exist

regarding what they actually mean or should mean in the real world.

-The power of glittering generalities lies in their ambiguity. “Great” can mean many different things to many different people. Since “great” is unspecific, the effectiveness of the propaganda is

dependent on the individual. “Great” is whatever you imagine it to be. Nothing is clearly defined. Effectively, it makes the viewer do all of the work, and the message reaches a broader audience.

Glittering Generalities

Glittering Generalitiess

Glittering Generalities

“Defy the negative effects of time with the help of South Jersey’s newest, most advanced – and best – practice in the fields of plastic and reconstructive surgery. We offer state-of-the-art

facilities, the most advanced surgical techniques, superior outcomes and the ultimate in patient-centered concierge care.”

Glittering Generalities… and good example of the incredibly blurred lines between sociopolitical propaganda and commercial advertising. This is commercial advertising (an ad for a product or service), yes…but it’s also social propaganda.

The line between traditional propaganda and commercial advertising is perhaps at a point of non-existence. “Conspicuous Consumption” no longer pertains only to achieving status and class through the accumulation of consumer goods, but status and class in terms of a particular social or political sentiment or position.

“This practice merges consumer behavior with political or social goals. Whether challenging police brutality or questioning unattainable beauty norms, branding in our era has extended beyond a business model: It is now both reliant on and reflective of our most basic social and cultural relations… individual consumers act politically by purchasing particular brands over others in a competitive marketplace, where specific brands are attached to political aims and goals”.

- Sarah Banet-Weiser, “Commodity Activism”

Glittering Generalities

3. BANDWAGON

Bandwagon:

§ An appeal to be, or the security of being, part of a larger group.

§ Conveys a sense of moral correctness through comradery and like- mindedness.

§ Conveys a sense of power by belonging to a movement, or something larger than oneself.

§ “Everyone is doing it, you should too.”

Bandwagon

- Who is the target audience?

- What evidence suggests this?

- What is the underlying message?

- What elements are used to suggest that the audience should join this bandwagon and accept the information?

- Do you feel convinced to join or conform to the group ideology?

- How do the font styles, colors, copy (text), subtext, image and photography choices emphasize the propaganda technique?

- Is this propaganda effective? Why or why not?

Ask yourself these questions:

Bandwagon

4. Name Calling

Name Calling:

§ Words or images, often vague, used to incite fears and arouse prejudices in the viewers with the idea that the bad names will cause people to construct a negative opinion about a person, group, or product.

§ “Trash-talking”

§ Often used in political advertising. “Mudslinging”.

Name Calling

Classic poor-quality “mudslinging” ad produced by one presidential candidate and name-calling an opponent. None of the negative words here are specific. Nowhere

does it define what a “Washington Insider” is, or how he can’t be trusted. The horizontal red slash adds a menacing, threatening tone, as does the washed-out gray

background, and the quizzical expression subliminally adds to the negative perception of the candidate’s opponent as untrustworthy.

- Who is the target audience?

- What evidence suggests this?

- What is the underlying message?

- What is this conflict about, and what do you think is the position of the producers of this ad?

- Which specific elements of the design indicate this as an example of Name Calling propaganda?

- Is this advertisement effective? Why or why not?

Ask yourself these questions:

Name Calling

5. Fear

Fear:

§ Words and images that play on deep-seated fears; saying disaster will result if you do not follow a particular course of action.

§ Essentially, like Glittering Generalities, a sub- category of “Loaded words & Loaded images”or “Emotional Appeal” – with fear being the specific motive force.

Glen Grohe He’s Watching You, 1942 offset lithograph. 14 x 10 in.

U.S. Government Printing Office / Office of War Information

Fear

-A prime example of hard- hitting, fear-based propaganda. The use of loaded words and images is clear, but it’s the emotion of fear – not of death, but of a slow, prolonged painful suffering - that drives the message home in the minds of smokers. “Dying…never painless…stroke…suffer every minute…” the copy and chillingly graphic image are unambiguous and unflinchingly realistic.

- note the use of yellow type against the black background. Yellow and black is a color combination that subliminally communicates danger. Smart designers use this to their benefit.

Fear

- Who is the target audience?

- What evidence suggests this?

- What is the underlying message

- What specific elements are used to produce fear in the mind of the viewer?

- How do the font styles, colors, copy (text), subtext, background colors, props and photography choices emphasize the persuasion technique?

- Is this advertisement effective? Why or why not?

Ask yourself these questions:

Fear

6. Transfer

Transfer:

§ The attempt or appeal to link (transfer), often through visual clues, the sentiment or feelings towards one thing onto something (a product or idea) or someone else (or the viewer).

§ Can be used positively or negatively.

§ also called “Association”.

Transfer

-The transfer technique 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 subject’s mind. Transfer evokes an emotional response, is often highly visual, and utilizes symbols superimposed over other visual images.

-Good example here in the realm of commercial advertising … the handsome yet rugged, macho image of the “Marlboro Man”. “Smoke Marlboros, and this is the man you’ll be” is what this persuasion technique is suggesting through very specific and symbolic imagery.

-Who is the target audience? What evidence suggests this?

-What is this advertisement suggesting about the product?

-What is the tone of this image? Positive? Negative? How can you tell?

-How does the image choice create a feeling that can be transferred to the product?

-How do the font styles, colors, copy (text), subtext, image and photography choices emphasize the propaganda technique?

Ask yourself these questions:

Transfer

Another ad for a commercial product, so not technically propaganda… but it does skirt the line between the two - if not cross it, in it’s attempt to transfer feelings of patriotism for America and

establish an idea of what it means to be a “real American”… and thus could be considered a form of social propaganda. In a positive context, this technique is also called ”virtue by association”.

7. Plain Folks

Plain Folks:

§ Convincing the audience that a person, product, company, or idea is associated with normal, everyday people and activities.

§ Messages are often relayed through the voice of the “plain folks”, as opposed to a company or institution.

§ Commonly appeals to regular people and their values such as health, family and patriotism.

§ “We’re just like you”.

§ Often combined with “Testimonial”.

Plain folks

Plain Folks persuasion targets the general public and often taps into or expresses positive sentiments about life in general. This is an example of Plain Folks as well as the Testimonial

persuasion tactic, among others. Unfortunately, most of the "plain folks" in ads are actually paid actors carefully selected because they look like "regular people.” Highly doubtful that this

statement was made by this person.

-Who is the target audience? What evidence suggests this?

-What is the subtext or underlying message of this ad?

-What kind of lifestyle is presented? How?

-How do the font styles, colors, copy (text), subtext, image and photography choices emphasize the propaganda technique?

-Do you relate to this message because you can relate to the individual?

Ask yourself these questions:

Plain folks

This is a commercial advertisement, but one that, like the Whole Foods Ads, can also be seen as social propaganda in its

attempt to make a statement about healthy eating, and how we should live.

Plain Folks

8. Testimonial

Testimonial:

§ An attempt to persuade the reader by using a famous person to endorse a product or idea (for instance, the “celebrity endorsement”).

§ A personal statement or quote by an individual included in an ad or message.

Testimonial

Testimonial persuasion usually features a celebrity endorsing a product, cause, or ideology (often with a personal statement or story), but more generally they can be any communication where someone, like a former customer, relates their personal experience in order to help sell or endorse something or someone. Quotes and signatures are often present but not required.

-Who is the target audience?

-What evidence suggests this?

-Who is the famous person?

-How does the endorsement by this person make the product seem like it is worth the purchase?

-Should we regard this person as an expert or trust their testimony? Why?

-How do the font styles, colors, copy (text), subtext, image and photography choices emphasize the propaganda technique

-Is there merit to the idea or product without the testimony?

Ask yourself these questions:

Testimonial

9. Card Stacking

Card Stacking:

§ Deliberately providing a one-sided context to give a misleading impression. “Stacking the deck”: carefully using only those facts (often true) that support one side of the story.

§ Presenting selective information in order to achieve a desired result and omitting any information or relevant facts contrary to it.

Card-Stacking

Also called “semantic slanting” or “selective sharing”, Card-Stacking persuades the viewer through meticulously selective text and imagery.

Nowhere in this ad does it say how the vaccine works, or any possible side effects. There’s not a lot of specific information in this ad, but many examples of Card- Stacking are loaded with vague, out-of-context “data” and carefully selected information and images in an attempt to support one side of a story or position.

-Who is the target audience?

-What evidence suggests this?

-Are facts being distorted or omitted? Is there another side to the story?

-What other arguments exist to support an opposing conclusion?

-How do the font styles, colors, copy (text), subtext, image and photography choices emphasize the propaganda technique?

-Is this advertisement effective? Why? Why not?

Ask yourself these questions:

Card Stacking

10. Emotional Appeal

Emotional Appeal:

§ Also called “Appeal to Emotion”. Messages (text and images) that attempt to persuade by evoking or triggering powerful, emotional feelings (happiness, anger, fear, sympathy, etc.) in the viewer or consumer, rather than through a rational or logical appeal. To “tug on heartstrings”.

§ Highly effective in that almost all people make decisions based on emotions, to some degree.

Emotional Appeal

While “Emotional Appeal” is a common and effective technique, it’s my opinion that it is an inherently general condition of almost all propaganda anyway, or any kind of persuasive advertising or marketing.

Loaded words and images are themselves a form of emotional appeal. So is the use of fear, as fear is an emotion. So, while we can and should be able to identify specific examples of “Emotional Appeal”, it’s often present in some form in almost all effective marketing, and that’s especially true for propaganda. “The purpose of all advertising is to get to someone; to move them to act, to think a certain way, to believe in something, or to purchase a product or service. And the way that you do that is to connect an idea or product to a powerful human emotion”.

-Who is the target audience?

-What is the subtext or underlying message of this ad?

-What specific elements or emotions do you experience when viewing/reading the message?

-How do the font styles, colors, copy (text), subtext, image and photography choices emphasize the propaganda technique?

-Is this advertisement effective? Why? Why not?

Ask yourself these questions:

Emotional Appeal

Information Disorder

Information Disorder in the Age of Information: We live in a world where information is instantaneously accessible, generally speaking, to everyone, at any time, anywhere. Since the development of the internet, society has transitioned from a time when there was a highly controlled system of information production to an era where anyone anywhere can create content, share that content, and have it reach and affect thousands, hundreds of thousands, or hundreds of millions of people.

Information Disorder, or “fake news”, is probably a natural product of this transition from a localized system to an individualized system, of the sheer quantity of messaging or content that exists, and of the many ways in which that content can be disseminated. “Information disorder “may not necessarily be what we’d identify as propaganda in a traditional sense, but since the methods of communication have changed, our definitions of these things should change as well. “News” is a word we can’t really use the same way anymore… “opinion" would be more accurate.

“The disinformation in a “post-truth” world is propaganda masquerading as news and bot armies pushing partisan agendas on social media”. “The biggest problem is that Twitter and Google, etc., are these giant feedback loops that give people what they want to hear. And when you use them in a world where your biases are constantly confirmed, you become susceptible to fake news, propaganda, and demagoguery”. - Franklin Foer

Misinformation: False content that is unintentionally or unknowingly disseminated. Unintentional mistakes, inaccurate captions, dates, statistics, or translations. When satire is taken seriously.

Disinformation: False content that is intentionally disseminated with intent to harm. Fabricated or deliberately manipulated content. Intentionally created conspiracy theories or rumors.

Malinformation: Deliberate publication of private material. Deliberate change of context, date, or time of genuine content with intent to harm.

Source: Claire Wardle, Information Disorder: An Interdisciplinary Framework for Research and Policy

Three Categories of Information Disorder (Fake News) FA

LS EN

ES S

IN TEN

T TO H

A R

Information Disorder: There are many reasons that misinformation and disinformation (and to a lesser extent, malinformation) exists or is used. Misinformation is generally accidental or innocuous false content that is not intended to cause harm, although even accidental misinformation can, indirectly and through the proliferation and spread of these messages, have unintended consequences, and be highly persuasive.

Disinformation, on the other hand, is false content that is intentionally created, designed, used and intended to confuse, muddle information, affect or change one’s perception, persuade towards a particular political, religious or social cause or point of view, etc., and cause some level of harm… and within these contexts, should be seen as an application of propaganda.

The goal of all propaganda is control. So as a rule, propaganda predicated on an idea of authority, or the manipulation of authority. The believing of authority, the establishing and maintaining of authority… is all part of the indirect agenda – beyond the direct intent of propaganda. In this way one can establish a cycle of control. And the controlling of the masses through propaganda enables the abuse of power. Disinformation and malinformation are methods used to make this happen.

Some of these reasons that information disorder or “fake news” exists may be:

1. To influence voters or public discourse for political gain

2. Clicks = $. News stories created for financial gain

3. Governments want to advance their agenda

4. To make a statement through satire

5. Lowered standards of journalism and ethics

less harmful more harmful

7 Types of Mis- & Disinformation

Source: Claire Wardle, Information Disorder: An Interdisciplinary Framework for Research and Policy

Satire or Parody:

No intention to cause harm but has potential to fool.

Can be hateful, polarizing and divisive.

As it gets re-shared, more people lose the connection to the original messenger and fail to understand it as satire.