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Propaganda
A Biased, one-sided
communication meant to influence
the thoughts and actions of an
audience
Reasons to Use Propaganda:
Conceal Contradictory Information
 Discourage debate
 Lie
 Distort Facts
 Rely on Simple and Repetitive
Messages
 Work to Gain Trust
 Manipulate

Propaganda Uses

Slogans
– 4 legs good, 2 legs bad

Repetition
– The sheep bleat the maxim over and over

Loaded Words
– Miserable, slaughtered with hideous cruelty,
misery, slavery, abolished, bare rations, evils of
this life, rebellion, preserve our health,
brainworkers, “your” sake

Powerful Images
– Golden future time, riches, cruel whips not more
shall crack, purer, sweeter, freedom, fruitful fields

Appeals to Our Fears
– Do you know what will happen in Mr. Jones
comes back?

Appeals to Our Basic Desires and Needs
– Just so much food, none of us owns more
than our skins, pleasure and support for old
age, all animals are comrades, health,
depends on us

To Make us think and act a certain way
Types of
Propaganda
Euphemism

Replacing harsh, offensive language
with more pleasing words and phrases
– Attack becomes a preemptive strike
– A garbage collector becomes a sanitation
specialist
– Food reduction becomes food
readjustment
– Failing a class becomes not receiving
adequate grades
Oversimplification
 Make
an issue so simple that
the true meaning is hidden
–Made from recycled paper
(but only 10%)
–Made with real fruit juice (only
10 %)
Bandwagon or
Testimonial

Get people to do something because
everyone else (or someone famous) is doing
it.
– Celebrity endorsements
• An important or famous person
endorses a product
– Environmentalism became popular so
companies suddenly became “green”
– Everybody has one, so you should, too
Internal Contradiction
 One
part of a statement contradicts
another part of the same statement
–You do not have to take the final
exam, but you will not pass the
course
Faulty Cause-and-Effect Reasoning
 No
logical cause is given or known
for the effect
–I failed my math test because I
forgot to wear my lucky shirt
–Brand X whitens clothes the best
–I am stupid because I cannot
spell
Begging the Question
 To
avoid answering the
question by skirting the issue or
diverting the attention to
someone or something else.
–When a politician avoids a
difficult questions by focusing
attention onto his opponent.
Repetition
The
product name or
keyword is repeated several
times
Name-Calling
Negative
words are used to
create unfavorable opinions
of the competition in the
viewer’s mind
Compare and Contrast
The
viewer is led to believe
one product is better than
another, although no real
proof is offered.
Loaded or Emotional
Words
Words
such as luxury,
beautiful, paradise, and
economical are used to
evoke positive feelings in the
viewer.
Additional Elements
In addition to effective
propaganda, other elements
need to be present for a dictator
to take control.
Supporters
The
masses must be behind
the leader and feel that his or
her new ideas will make a
real difference in their lives
Ignorance of Followers
 It’s
important that the followers
and supporters of the leader not
be too educated. They must
follow blindly and without
question.
Scapegoat
 There
must be someone or
something to blame for all of the
bad conditions the leader wants
to eradicate. Usually it is the
leadership in power. Later, any
problems which arise can be
blamed on the scapegoat.
What are some examples of
propaganda that you can think
of?
Bring in one example of
propaganda tomorrow. Be
ready to tell what kind it is.