Lesson 23 — Activity 2: Propaganda
Completion requirements
Lesson 23 — Activity 2:
Propaganda
Warm Up
Propaganda can be defined as messages that aim to make people think or act a certain way. Unlike objective information, which provides all the facts about an issue or situation, propaganda only shows you one side of an issue. It may use arguments that seem to be very convincing.
Propaganda can be found in television commercials, news programs, magazine ads, and many other sources. Propaganda is carefully designed to influence our opinions, emotions, attitudes, and behaviours. It tries to persuade us to believe in something or to do something that we would not normally believe or do. These messages have been designed to benefit someone, and that someone may not be you!
It's not as easy as you might think to spot hidden messages. Propaganda designers know you are on your guard. To trick you, they don't put one message into a piece of propaganda — they put lots of messages into each piece! The more you know about propaganda techniques and how they work, the less likely it is that someone will sneak something by you.
Historically, propaganda has often been used by politicians to convince people to support their positions and plans. Hitler's promotion of Nazi ideals and hatred towards the Jews in Germany in the 1930s and 1940s is one of the best examples of the use of propaganda. However, propaganda doesn't always promote political beliefs. Propaganda can also be used to sell products or shape the perception of an organization, person, or brand.
Below you will see some examples of propaganda techniques.
Flag-Waving
This is
promoting an action or product by associating it with patriotism (love
of your country). Using a country's flag with an advertisement would be
an example of this.
Source: Image by Jody Parks from Pixabay
Glittering Generalities
This
is using emotional words with a product or idea without providing
evidence that these words are actually associated with the product or
idea. Words like "freedom," "hope," and "courage" are words that are
sometimes used in this way.
Source: Image by Bogdan Korneker from Pixabay
Testimonial
This
is using a popular or respected figure to promote something. The figure
often has little to do with what is being promoted. Celebrities often
take part in testimonials.
creative commons
Bandwagon
This
involves encouraging people to do or buy something because everyone else
is doing it. You see this technique in ads that say, "Ninety percent of
people enjoy..."
Wikimedia commons
Slogans
This involves using catchy phrases to promote a cause or product. These are used in many advertisements.
Stereotyping
Stereotyping involves promoting popular beliefs
about a person or product that are not always true.
Source: Flickr, CC by 2.0