Americans. grownups and kids likewise. are being seduced. They are being brainwashed. And few of us protest. Why? Because the seducers and the brainwashers are the advertizers we volitionally invite into our places. We are victims. content—even eager—to be victimized. We read advertisers’ propaganda message in newspapers and magazines ; we watch their alluring images on telecasting. We absorb their messages and images into our subconscious. We all do it—even those of us who claim to see through advertisers’ fast ones and hence experience immune to advertising’s appeal. Advertisers lean to a great extent on propaganda to sell their merchandises. whether the “products” are a trade name of toothpaste. a campaigner for office. or a peculiar political point of view.

Propaganda is a systematic attempt to act upon people’s sentiments. to win them over to a certain position or side. Propaganda is non needfully concerned with what is true or false. good or bad. Propagandists merely want people to believe the messages being sent. Often. propagandists will utilize straight-out prevarications or more elusive misrepresentations to rock people’s sentiments. In a propaganda war. any tactic is considered just.

When we hear the word “propaganda. ” we normally think of a foreign threat: anti-American wireless plans broadcast by a totalitarian government or brainwashing tactics practiced on sureties. Although propaganda may look relevant merely in the political sphere. the construct can be applied productively to the manner merchandises and thoughts are sold in advertisement. Indeed. the huge bulk of us are marks in advertisers’ propaganda war. Every twenty-four hours. we are bombarded with mottos. print ads. commercials. packaging claims. hoardings. hallmarks. Son. and designer brands-all signifiers of propaganda. One survey studies that each of us. during an mean twenty-four hours. is exposed to over five 100 advertisement claims of assorted types. This impregnation may even increase in the hereafter since current tendencies include ads on film screens. shopping carts. videocassettes. even public telecasting.

What sort of propaganda techniques do advertizers utilize? There are six basic types:

1. Name Calling. Name naming is a propaganda maneuver in which negatively charged names are hurled against the opponent side or rival. By utilizing such names. propagandists try to elicit feelings of misgiving. fright. and hatred in their audiences. For illustration. a political advertizement may label an opposing campaigner a “loser. ” “fence-sitter. ” or “warmonger” . Depending on the advertiser’s mark market. labels such as “a friend of large business” or “a dues-paying member of the party in power” can be the names that damage an opposition. Ads for merchandises may besides utilize name naming. An American label of strangeness will hold unpleasant intension in many people’s heads. A childhood rime claims that “name can ne’er ache me. ” but call naming is an effectual manner to damage the resistance. whether it is another auto shaper or 2 congressional campaigners.

2. Glittering Generalities. Using glistening generalizations is the antonym of name naming. In this instance. advertizers surround their merchandises with attractive—and slippery—words and phrases. They use obscure footings that are hard to specify and that may hold different significances to different people: freedom. democratic. all-American. progressive. Christian. and justness. Many such words have strong. affirmatory overtones. This sort of linguistic communications stirs positive feelings in people. feelings that may slop over to the merchandise or thought being pitched. As with name naming. the emotional response may overpower logic. Target audiences accept the merchandise without believing really much about what the glistening generalizations mean—or whether they even apply to the merchandise. After all. how can anyone oppose “truth. justness. and the American way” ?

The ads for politicians and political causes frequently use glistening generalizations because such “buzz words” can act upon ballots. Election mottos include high-flown but fundamentally empty phrases like the followers:

“He attentions about people. ” ( That’s nice. but is he a better campaigner than his opposition? )

“Vote for advancement. ” ( Progress by whose criterions? )

“They’ll do this state great once more. ” ( What does “great” intend? Does “great” intend the same thing to others as it does to me? )

“Vote for the hereafter. ” ( What sort of future? )

“If you love American. so ballot for Phyllis Smith. ” ( If I don’t ballot for Smith. does that intend I don’t love American? )

Ads for consumer goods are besides sprinkled with glistening generalizations. Product names. for case. are supposed to arouse good feelings: Luvs nappies. New Freedom feminine hygiene merchandises. joy liquid detergent. Loving Care hair colour. Almost Home cookies. and Yankee Doodle pastries. Merchandise mottos thin to a great extent on vague but soothing phrases: Kinney is “The Great American Shoe Store. ” General Electric “brings good things to life. ” and Dow Chemical “lets you do great things. ” Chevrolet. we are told. is the “heartbeat of America. ” and Chrysler boasts autos that are “built by Americans for Americans. ”

3. Transportation. In transportation. advertizers try to better the image of a merchandise by tie ining it with a symbol most people respect. like the American flag or Uncle Sam. The advertizers hope that the prestigiousness attached to the symbol will transport over to the merchandise. Many companies use transportation devices to place their merchandises: Lincoln Insurance shows a profile of the president ; Continental Insurance portrays a Revolutionary War Minuteman ; Amtrak’s logo is ruddy. white. and bluish ; Liberty Mutual’s corporate symbol is the Statue of Liberty ; Allstate’s name is cradled by a brace of protective. fatherlike custodies.

Corporations besides use the transportation techniques when they sponsor esteemed shows on wireless and telecasting. These shows function as symbols of self-respect and category. Kraft Corporation. for case. sponsored a “Leonard Bernstein Conducts Beethoven” concert. while Gulf Oil is the patron of National Geographic specials and Mobil supports public television’s Masterpiece Theater. In this manner. corporations can make an educated. influential audience and. possibly. better their public image by tie ining themselves with quality scheduling.

Political ads. of class. practically wrap themselves in the flag. Ads for a political campaigner frequently show the Washington Monument. a Fourth of July parade. the Stars and Strips. a barefaced bird of Jove surging over the mountains. or a white-steeple church on the small town green. The national anthem or “America the Beautiful” may play quietly in the background. Such entreaties to Americans’ love of state can environ the campaigner with an aura of nationalism and unity.

4. Testimonial. The testimony is one of advertiser’s most-loved and most-used propaganda techniques. Similar to the transportation device. the testimonial capitalizes on the esteem people have for a famous person to do the merchandise radiance more brightly—even though the famous person is non an expert on the merchandise being sold.

Print and telecasting ads offer a nonstop parade of testimonies: here’s Cher for Holiday Spas ; here’s hoops star Michael Jordan eating Wheaties ; Michael Jackson sings about Pepsi.

American Express features a batch of well-known people who assure us that they ne’er go anyplace without their American Express card. Testimonies can sell films. excessively ; newspaper ads for movies frequently feature favourable remarks by well-known referees. And. in recent old ages. testimonies have played an of import function in fliping books ; the dorsums of paper-back books often list complimentary endorsements by famous persons.

Political campaigners. every bit good as their ad bureaus. know the value of testimonies. Barbra Streisand lent her star entreaty to the presidential run of Michael Dukakis. while Arnold Schwarzenegger endorsed George Bush. Even controversial societal issues are debated by famous persons. The atomic freezing. for case. starred Paul Newman for the pro side and Charlton Heston for the con.

Equally unlogical as testimonies sometimes are ( Pepsi’s Michael Jackson. for case. is a health-food disciple who does non imbibe soft drinks ) . they are effectual propaganda. We like the individual so much that we like the merchandise excessively.

5. Complain Folks. The field folks approach says. in consequence. “Buy me or ballot for me. I’m merely like you. ” Regular folks will certainly like Bob Evans’s Down on the Farm Country Sausage or good antique State clip Lemonade. Some ads emphasize the thought that “we’re all in the same boat. ” We see people doing long-distance calls for merely the grounds we do—to put the babe on the phone to Grandma or to state Mom we love her. And how make these folksy. warmhearted ( normally saccharine ) scenes affect us? They’re supposed to do us experience that AT & A ; T—the transnational corporate giant—has the same values we do. Similarly. we are introduced to the small people at Ford. the ordinary folks who work on the assembly line. non to bigwigs in their executive officers. What’s the intent of such an attack? To promote us to purchase a auto built by these honest. hardworking “everyday Joes” who care approximately quality every bit much as we do.

Political advertizements make about as much usage of the “plain folks” entreaty as they do of transportation devices. Campaigners wear difficult chapeaus. farmers’ caps. and assembly-line coveralls. They jog around the block and carry their ain baggage through the airdrome. The thought is to convert electors that the campaigners are mean people. non the elite—not affluent attorneies or executives but the common citizen.

6. Bandwagon In the bandwagon technique. advertisers’ force per unit area. “Everyone’s making it. Why don’t you? ” This sort of propaganda frequently succeeds because many people have a deep desire non to be different. Political ads tell us to vote for the “winning campaigner. ” The advertizers know we tend to experience comfy making what others do ; we want to be on the winning squad. Or ads show a series of people proclaiming. “I’m vote for the Senator. I don’t know why anyone wouldn’t. ” Again. the audience feels under force per unit area to conform.

In the market place. the bandwagon attack lures purchasers. Ads tell us that “nobody. but all similar Sara Lee” ( the message is that you must be eldritch if you don’t ) . They tell us that “most people prefer Brand X two to one over other taking brands” ( to be like the bulk. we should purchase Brand X ) . If we don’t drink Pepsi. we’re left out of “the Pepsi coevals. ” To take portion in “America’s favourite wellness boot. ” the National Dairy Council urges us to imbibe milk. And Honda bike ads. praising the virtuousnesss of being a follower. state us. “Follow the leader. He’s on a Honda. ”

Why do these propaganda techniques work? Why do so many of us buy the merchandises. point of views. and campaigners urged on us by propaganda message? They work because they appeal to our emotions. non to our heads. Often. in fact. they capitalize on our biass and prejudices. For illustration. if we are convinced that conservationists are groups who want to destruct America’s record of industrial growing and advancement. so we will clap the campaigner who refers to them as “tree huggers. ” Clear believing requires difficult work: analysing a claim. researching the facts. analyzing both sides of an issue. utilizing logic to see the defects in an statement. Many of us would instead allow the propagandists do our thought for us.

Because propaganda is so effectual. it is of import to observe it and understand how it is used. We may reason. after close scrutiny. that some propaganda sends a true. worthwhile message. Some advertisement. for case. impulses us non to drive rummy. to go voluntaries. to lend to charity. Even so. we must be cognizant that propaganda is being used. Otherwise. we will hold consented to passing over to others our independency of idea and action.