Propaganda techniques

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Whose voice guides your choice?

Propaganda is … … form of communication … aimed at swaying or influencing your attitude … toward or away from some cause or position.

Influence of Propaganda¨ If you watch 30 hours of TV per week, you

will…– View roughly 37,822 commercials per year

•That’s about 100 TV ads per day

¨ You will see another 100 to 300 ads per day through other mass media

If companies did not think you could be influenced, they would not spend

billions of $ on it!

So … if everyone is trying to influence you how do you ….

How do you decide who is the best candidate…

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or which is the best toothpaste ?

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Who uses Propaganda?

MilitaryPoliticiansGovernmentsYou and I

Media & Advertising:•Television•Radio•Billboards•Bumper stickers•Magazines,

Newspapers

What are Propaganda techniques?• Designed to persuade and to

influence your OpinionsEmotionsAttitudesBehavior

• Propaganda techniques seek to “guide your choice.”

What are some of the methods or techniques used to persuade us?

• Bandwagon• Name-calling• Testimonial• Glittering Generality• Plain-folks appeal• Transfer• Emotional words• Faulty Reasoning• Fear• Loaded Language

Bandwagon

oEverybody is doing this. Join the crowd! You must JOIN in to FIT in!

oIf you want to fit in, you need to “jump on the bandwagon” and do it too.

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Bandwagon example:

Everyone in Auburn is supporting Bob Riley. Shouldn’t you be part of the winning team?

Name-calling

• A negative word or feeling is attached to an idea, product, or person implying that we should not be interested.

Name calling example:

Do we want a mayor who will leave us in debt?

Spending grew 100% under Mayor Moneybags!

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Name calling example:

In a campaign speech to a logging company, the Congressman referred to his environmentally conscious opponent as a "tree hugger."

Testimonial & Endorsements

•A famous person endorses an idea, a product, a candidate and implies the person uses it and so should we!

Testimonial example:

An important person or famous figure endorses a product.

Testimonial example:

If we drink milk we will all be as famous and as strong as superman.

http://www.spreadingjam.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/superman-got-milk-ad-commercial1.jpg

¨ Target younger audiences ¨ Often use cartoons to sell a

product¨ The Ninja Turtles sell pizza,

because they often eat pizza on the show

Cute Celebrities

http://www.lovefilm.com/lovefilm/images/products/6/21586-large.jpg

Glittering Generality

• Admired words like truth, democracy, beauty, timeless inspire positive feelings for a person, idea, or product.

Makes you think positively about a product - catchy phrases- no guarantees- no evidence

Glittering Generality example:

If you want to be brighter, you’ll support Bill Brite.

Look on the bright side!

Vote for Bill Brite !

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Glittering Generality example: Gatorade: "Life is a sport, drink it up!“

That sounds good, but what does it mean??

Plain-folks appeal

This idea, product, or person is associated with normal, everyday people and activities.

Plain folks Example: We want a Jim Smith, a mayor who supports the regular American worker.

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Like a good neighbor…

Plain folks Example:

Transfer

•Symbols, quotes, or images of famous people are used to convey a message to make you think you can be just like them!

Transfer example:

Good feelings, looks, or ideas transferred to the person for whom the product is intended.

Transfer example:Joe uses symbols of America to tie his restaurant to American values for Independence Day.

Celebrate the American Way this 4th of July-

Eat at Joe’s

Joe’s Barbeque

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…built American tough

http://www.automobilesreview.com/uploads/2008/11/built-ford-tough-2009-f-150.jpg

Transfer example:

(Negative)Transfer Example:During the Kerry vs. Bush campaign an e-mail through the internet showed similar physical characteristics between John Kerry and a fictional character.

Emotional words

•Words that leave us with positive feelings are used to describe a product, person, or idea.

•We associate those words and, therefore, those positive feelings with the product.

Emotional words example: luxury, beautiful, paradise, economical

Used to evoke positive feelings

Happiness

Low price

Fun

Flag (patriotism)

Emotional words example:

What feelings are inspired by the words “true love”? If you wear this cologne will someone fall in love with you? True Love

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¨ The origin of the term slogan is “a war cry or rally cry” (and is often used in political or patriot context), but it is commonly used to describe “a brief attention- getting phrase used in advertising promotion.”

Slogan ¨ A phrase that

“rhymes or sounds in a catchy manner,” which emphasizes its musicality, as being associated with a song or a tune.

Jingle

¨ THE 20th CENTURIES TOP 10 COMMERICAL JINGLES

1. You Deserve a Break Today (McDonald’s)

2. Be All That You Can Be (U.S. Army)

3. Pepsi-Cola Hits The Spot (Pepsi-Cola)

4. Mmm Mmm Good! (Campbell Soup)

5. See The USA In Your Chevrolet (GM)

6. I Wish I Were An Oscar Mayer Wiener (Oscar Mayer)

7. Double Your Pleasure, Double Your Fun (Wrigley's Gum)

8. Winston Tastes Good Like A Cigarette Should (Winston)

9. It’s The Real Thing (Coca-Cola)

10.A Little Dab’ll Do Ya (Brylcreem)

Source: Advertising Age

SloganTOP 10 SLOGANS OF THE CENTURY

1. Diamonds are forever (DeBeers)

2. Just do it (Nike)

3. The pause that refreshes (Coca-Cola)

4. We try harder (Avis)

5. Good to the last drop (Maxwell House)

6. Breakfast of champions (Wheaties)

7. Does she ... or doesn't she? (Clairol)

8. When it rains it pours (Morton Salt)

9. Where's the beef? (Wendy's)

10. Let your fingers do the walking (Yellow Pages)

11. M&Ms melt in your mouth, not in your hand (M&M candies)

12. We bring good things to life (General Electric)

Fear

• Tells us something to make us afraid

• Suggests that the product or person will save us from some danger

Fear example:

If you use Safety Ware, it will keep people from stealing your identity –

Created the idea that you should worry about identity theft and that Safety ware will prevent it.

Guard against Identity theft

Use Safety Ware

www.safetyware.com

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Evidence Claims

¨ Facts and Figures – statistics to prove superiority.

¨ Magic Ingredients – suggests some miraculous discovery makes product exceptionally effective.

¨ Hidden Fears – suggests that user is safe from some danger.

http://repairstemcell.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/cheerios.jpg

Evidence Claims:Will this help you reduce your cholesterol?

¨ Trident: Four out of Five Dentists

Evidence Claims:

The viewer is led to believe one product is better than another,

although no real proof is offered.

Take the Pepsi Challenge

Wit & Humor

¨ Travelocity's “ Roaming Gnome” campaign is based on the prank in which you steal your neighbor’s lawn gnome, take it to some exotic location, and send back photos of the gnome to the owner on top of some landmark.

Wit & Humor

“

Loaded language or words ” are loaded with the potential to generate strong emotions or feelingsFor example, using words like healthy or safe cause a positive

reaction from most people.

How do we make sure that we are making informed choices,

instead of allowing others to sway us in our decision-making?

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We make our own choices when … • we read and listen to reliable

sources,

• we watch for combinations of truths and lies,

• we check for hidden messages,

• we watch for use of propaganda techniques,

• We think critically

and, most importantly,

www.scottish.parliament.uk/ educationservice

WHEN WE LISTEN TO OUR OWN VOICES !

http://www.dkimages.com/discover/previews/844/10089620.JPG

http://sharetv.org/images/i_am_weasel-show.jpg

¨ Be a conscientious consumer¨ Know what devices are trying to influence

you¨ Then…

Make an informed decision

Critical thinking questions

¨ Who created/paid for the message?¨ For what purpose was it made?¨ Who is the ‘target audience’?¨ What techniques are used to attract my

attention & increase believability ?¨ Who or what might be omitted and why?¨ What do they want me to think or do?¨ How do I know what it means?¨ Where might I go to get more information?

Critical thinking questions

¨ Who produced and/or paid for the message?¨ What is the purpose of the message?¨ Who is the ‘target audience’ ?¨ What techniques are used to both attract attention

and increase believability?¨ What lifestyles are promoted and why?¨ Does the message contain bias or stereotypes?

Critical thinking questions

¨ Why is this message being sent?¨ Who stands to benefit from the message?¨ Who or what might be omitted and why?¨ How might different people interpret the message

differently from me?¨ What can I do with the information I obtain from

the message?¨ What do you know; not know; like to know?

Look for facts to back up your choice.

Find out who is presenting those facts.

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Are they facts at all, or is the advertiser using propaganda techniques to persuade you?

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