The Art of Propaganda

The Art of Propaganda

American Government

Mr. Bentley

The Intent1)Propaganda is the use of arguments to

convince someone of somethinga)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 Propaganda’s intentions—and they can be good—Propaganda is ALWAYS bad:

a)It is designed to do your thinking for you.b)It is designed to discourage you from digging

deeper.

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.

Ten Commandments of Propaganda

1) Divide and Conquera)More small groups are easier to pit against each other

2) Tell the people what they wanta)Pander to the masses

3) The bigger the lie, the more people will believe ita)Make statements grandiose and loud

4) ALWAYS appeal to the lowest common denominatora) It’s O.K. to “dumb it down”

Ten Commandments of Propaganda (cond)

5)Generalize as much as possiblea) Paint in broad strokes

6) Use "expert" testimoniala) Have someone known or relatable

“pitch” it

7) Refer often to the "authority" of your officea) Remind public of knowledge and

power

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 leda)More informed means more skeptical

10) Get the "plain folks" onto the "bandwagon"a)Appeal to the common man & he will follow

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:


1. 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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2. Testimonial: people endorsing certain idea or beliefa. Tiger Woods & Nike

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

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

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5. Misery: portraying a sympathetic scenea. Showing starving

children to encourage people to donate money



6. Simplicity & Repetition: using basic language and common symbolsa. McDonald’s “I’m lovin’ it!”



7. Plain Folks: use of ordinary people to portray “common man”a. Every Wrangler Jeans commercial EVER made



8. Bandwagon: encourages immediate supporta. “don’t be left out”, “for 2 days only”



9. Name Calling: attacks someone’s reputation, actions or recorda. See most any “negative” campaign commercial



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



11. Hasty Generalization: jumping to conclusionsa. “women can’t drive”



12 Oversimplification: too simple to account for a complex realitya. “I don’t do well in school because I’m too stupid.”



13. Black or White:only two choices; no in-betweensa. “You’re either with us or against us.”



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.”



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



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...”



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



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?”



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



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!).



21. Direct Order: a command to do somethinga. “Just Do It.”



22. Scapegoating: blaming someone or something to make oneself look gooda. “The Democratic Congress is to blame”, “The Republican Administration’s policies created this mess.”


Documents

The Art of Propaganda