Download Propaganda Paper

Nate Walker
Sims
Engl 101.021
3/4/2014
Propaganda
No matter where or when advertisements will always influence the decisions
people today make. The reason people are so heavily influenced by these advertisements
is because of the propaganda used in them. Propaganda is a systematic effort to influence
people’s opinions, to win them over to a certain view or side. Ann McClintock takes a
deeper look in to propaganda and provides seven ways in which it is used. Although there
are seven different ways, Testimonial, Card Stacking, and Bandwagon are the most
effective.
Out of all three effective forms of propaganda, the testimonial form is heavily used. A
testimonial is when a company capitalizes on the admiration people have for a celebrity in order
to make the product stand out even more. According to McClintock, the testimonial is one of
advertisers most used techniques. (P.247) In an ad for Hanes Underwear, they feature Michael
Jordan. During the ad they have Jordan wearing the product to show consumers how comfortable
the product is. By using him, they are appealing to people who play sports and who are also fans
of Michael Jordan. When using a celebrity in an ad, consumers begin to feel like they need that
product in order to be more like that celebrity.
Another strong and effective propaganda technique is Card stacking. By definition card
stacking means that one side may distort or suppress evidence, tell half-truths, oversimplify the
facts, or set up a “straw man” – a false target- to divert attention from the issue at hand. From
what McClintock says in the text, card stacking is usually harder to detect in a lot of
advertisements. (P.249) For example, in ads for proactive acne cream they talk about all the
different benefits that come from using Proactive. They also talk about all the different gifts and
bonus thing that come with it once you purchase it. While they are describing benefits that come
with it, all they are really doing is just showing the consumer things that are being given away
with the purchase. During the ad they do not really talk much about how the cream can help
someone’s skin. By just talking about the gifts they are giving away, they are diverting from
people actually having acne and skin problems.
The next propaganda technique that is effective is Bandwagon. A lot of people may often
here bandwagon being associated with sports, because people just decide to become fans.
Besides in sports, bandwagon can also be used in advertisements. Bandwagon is when
advertisers pressure a consumer into using a certain product. McClintock says using the
bandwagon technique is often effective because people do not want to be left out and stand out
from others. (P.250) One example of the bandwagon technique is in the Verizon Wireless ads. In
these ads one man is being followed around by Millions of people because Verizon’s phone
service is that great. This technique can and will be very effective because people never want to
feel left out from anything.
Propaganda is used every single day in all types of ways. The more effective ways that it
is used is by advertising products to people. With seven different types of propaganda techniques
already established, Ann McClintock was able to take a more in depth look into them and
explain why they are so effective on people today. Although there are seven, Testimonial, Card
Stacking, and Bandwagon are the three that seem to be the most effective of all. As a consumer,
escaping propaganda seems like something that will never be possible. It will always be around
and used in all types of advertisements.