Propaganda vs Advertising
Propaganda
According to the Black Sheep Agency, propaganda is restricted to a particular goal or objective. Advertising expands on that by incorporating products, services, and concepts. Many, if not all, of the daily advertisements we scroll past or pass by use some form of deception to persuade you to purchase the advertised commodity or service or to change your perspective on something.
Advertising
As stated by the Black Sheep Agency, by including products, services, and ideas, advertising expands on that. Daily advertisements that we scroll over or pass by sometimes contain some form of propaganda intended to persuade you to purchase the advertised commodity or service or to change your perspective on something.
The goal of propaganda
The purpose of propaganda is to push a certain perspective and/or way of thinking onto the beholder. For example, if a company’s goal is to sell burgers,
they would use tactics that influence the viewer into noticing all of the positive aspects such as flavor taste, etc. More specifically, most propaganda
aims to have at least one of the following results:
- Influencing people’s beliefs to make them believe something
- Persuading people to back a certain political candidate or cause
- Motivating others to act in a particular manner
How they achieve their goal (notable kinds of propaganda)
Propaganda can be used in a variety of ways. Here are some of the notable tactics that you should be on the lookout for;
Glittering generalities
This kind of propaganda is the use of words, typically through slogans, that evoke a positive reaction and stimulates happy feelings on the par of the viewer. As a result, the viewer associates those feelings to the product or message being shown to them.
Bandwagon
This kind of propaganda aims to give the viewer the fear of missing out, by making it seem like “everyone” has tried or is using whatever is being advertised. This leads to the viewer considering the product or message due to not wanting to be excluded from the masses.
Plain folks
This kind of propaganda aims to give the product or idea a sense of normalcy, that it can be effective on and is used by regular, day-to-day folk, making it more relatable to the viewer.
Card stacking
This kind of propaganda conceals or selectively shows certain pieces of information in order to give the viewer a distorted and one-sided perspective on a story as a means to make the message more convincing
Testimonial
This kind of propaganda shows a positive comment or review from notable figures, such as celebrities, with the aim to make the viewer have more trust in the product or message, even if the review in question is not coming from a professional or qualified background.