PROPAGANDA TECHNIQUES IN

TODAY’S ADVERTISING

-Ann McClintock

Presented by: Suman Shrestha

TESTIMONIALTestimonial is one of advertisers’ most-loved and most-used propaganda techniques.

It consists of a written or spoken statement, sometimes from a person figure, sometimes from a private citizen, extolling the virtue of some product.

Testimonial can be part of communal marketing.

Here the advertisers use different popular celebrities to make their product more popular even though the celebrity is not well-known about the product. (Example…)

We like the person so much that we like the product too.

PLAIN FOLKSThe plain folks approach says, “Buy me or vote for me. I am just like you”.

It is the argument in which the speaker presents him or herself as an average person, a common person who can understand and empathize with a listener’s concerns.

Here the speaker gives a sense of trust and comfort, believing that the speaker and the audience share common goals, so the audience should agree with the speaker.

Mostly it is used in political advertisements, political leaders take help to attract the audience to support their group.

CARD STACKINGIt is a propaganda technique that seeks to manipulate audience perception of an issue by emphasizing one side and repressing another.

It can be tool of advocacy groups or those with a specific agenda.

for eg – a crime story, focusing on a particular ethnic group, without providing proper comparative data, could be considered as card stacking.

It makes significant use of the evidence principle, whereby we find evidence to be particularly persuasive.

It is used in almost all forms of propaganda, and is extremely effective in convincing the public.

BANDWAGON In this technique, advertisers pressure, “Everyone is doing it. Why don’t you?” It forced the audiences to do the same as others doing.

Many people have a deep desire not to be different so this kind of propaganda often succeeds.

As we know that victory is predictable and defeat impossible, most of the people prefer to be on/support the winning team.

For eg – if we don’t drink Pepsi, we are out of “the Pepsi generation.”

CONCLUSIONWe can conclude that these propaganda work only because they appeal to our emotions, not to our minds.

It is important to detect it and understand how it is used.

THANK - YOU