Propaganda techniques

…still the most copious product of the propaganda mill is fake news.

PROPAGANDA
The use of a variety of communication techniques that create an emotional appeal to accept a particular
belief or opinion to adopt a certain behavior or to perform a particular action. There is some disagreement
about whether all persuasive communication is propagandistic or whether this label can only be applied
to dishonest messages.

Analogy
Analogy is a cognitive process of transferring traits from one thing or idea
to another. In propaganda, we often see false analogies used as a tool to
persuade an audience, where the target is unjustly compared to another
source, such as: '9/11 is our generation's Pearl Harbor.'

Use of celebrities
In advertisements, public service announcements
and propaganda, we often see the use of celebrities
to try to sell us an idea or product. It is an age-old
technique in the world of advertising and marketing.
Whether it works effectively or not remains debated.
This technique relies on the premise that people
want to be like the celebrities. If the celebrities
endorse a product then it must be good. This is the
line of logic that follows.

This ad uses David Beckham to sell milk. The target

audience is supposed to think: 'If David Beckham has
a body like that and he drinks milk, then I will have a body like that if I drink milk too.' Unfortunately,
this argument is not actually valid.
The use of celebrities is closely connected to the use of testimonials in advertising.

Sometimes, mostly through news reports attempts are made to convince the audience that a prominent
person and his ideas are very similar to that “of the people” and that he lives and behaves like any
average Joe. This can be done to make the person look favorable. For example: a prominent politician is
photographed shopping for groceries. On the other hand, to make a product look favorable a prominent
person is reported to be using that product. For example: a famous person is photographed having pizza
at Dominos to create a positive feeling among people for Dominos and the culture of eating pizzas in
general.

Generalizations
As we study argumentation and propaganda techniques, we come across hasty
generalizations. Generalization occurs when large conclusions are drawn from a few instances. It is the
weakness of inductive reasoning. For example, if premise A reads, 'our school's bandwidth is slow,' and
premise B reads, 'we don't have anything sweet in the vending machines,' then the conclusion, 'our
school is horrible,' would be a generalization. Unwarranted extrapolations can also be made through
gross generalizations, such as making huge predictions about the future on the basis of a few small facts.
Example: If the U.S. approves NAFTA, thousands of jobs and factories will move to Mexico.

Slogan
A slogan or a tagline is a phrase used in a
political or commercial campaign
repeatedly. Slogans are meant to be simple,
as they express a shared purpose or idea.
'Think Different' has been Apple's slogan for
decades. A slogan is very carefully chosen to
subtly express a nice sentiment, a feeling of
trust and a sense empowerment, etc.

Appeal to fear
In advertisements, speeches or even newspaper articles
we see that writers and speakers appeal to their audience's
sense of fear. If you can make people scared, then they will
believe or buy anything. We see it in advertising, political
campaigns and public service announcements. It is an age-
old technique used in many campaigns from the 'War on
Terror' to the 'War on Drugs'.
Appeal to authority
Appeal to authority is an
argumentation technique, in
which one refers to a source
that claims to have authority. It
is an argumentation fallacy
because it assumes that
authorities or institutions are
right. This, however, does not
have to be true.

Source A says that premise 1 is correct

Source A is an authority
Therefore the premise must be correct.

Appeal to authority is also known as 'argument from authority' or 'argumentum ad verecundiam'.

Equivocation

Equivocation is when a word is used in two different senses in an argument. Take for example the
following syllogism:

A hamburger is better than nothing

Nothing is better than good health
Therefore a hamburger is better than good health!

The word 'nothing' has two meanings. In the first line, it means the absence of something. In the second
line, it refers to a range of things, as in: 'of all the good things in life, nothing is better than good health.'
This accounts for why the conclusion sounds so strange. This linguistic device can be used to manipulate
people, by making false arguments sound convincing.

Snob appeal
The purpose of snob appeal is to persuade a consumer to purchase a product or service by convincing
him or her that the purchase will elevate their status. By appealing to individuals’ desires to be among
the elite, advertisers attempt to sell their products. It can be associated with ‘refined taste’ or anything
that ‘would make to stand apart’. It creates an effect similar to the bandwagon effect.
Bandwagon effect
The bandwagon effect is a propaganda technique that suggests
one should do something because everyone else is doing it. It is an
argumentation fallacy, because something does not have to be
true if everyone is doing it. It comes from the idea of a parade,
where happy people go by on bandwagons and people in the
crowd have the urge to 'hop on'. The bandwagon effect is an age-
old technique used to recruit soldiers for war or sell hamburgers
to the masses.

This McDonald's ad is a good example of the bandwagon effect.

We see happy people walking by and eating at the restaurant. If
we want to be as happy as the people in the ad, then we had
better eat at McDonald's.

Name calling
It is linking a person, or idea, to a negative symbol with the aim of
discrediting an idea or a person by associating it with an idea that
one inherently would dislike. The propagandist who uses this
technique hopes that the audience will reject the person or the
idea on the basis of the negative symbol, instead of looking at the
available evidence. Examples: commie, fascist, yuppie.

A subtler form of name-calling involves words or phrases that are

selected because they possess a negative emotional charge.
Those who oppose budget cuts may characterize fiscally
conservative politicians as "stingy." Supporters might prefer to
describe them as "thrifty." Both words refer to the same
behavior, but they have very different connotations. Other
examples of negatively charged words include: social
engineering, radical, cowardly, counter-culture, etc.

Glittering generalities
It is the opposite of name calling. It is the use of vague sweeping statements through virtue words
associated with values and beliefs deeply held by the audience, i.e.
links a person, or idea, to a positive symbol. It hopes to create a
favorable feeling and opinion without any direct evidence. Examples:
Appeals to the notion of honor, democracy, patriotism, family, desire
for comfort, etc.