Propaganda Strategies
Directions: In the chart below, explain the propaganda strategies you read about in Chapter 6 in your own words. Then think of a time you have seen this strategy in use and explain that time in your own words and why that example shows this propaganda strategy.
| Propaganda Strategy | Define in Your Own Words | Give Your Own Example of Somewhere You Have Seen This |
| Bandwagon | It means to follow the trend which is popular among the masses. | The ice bucket challenge is an example of bandwagon as millions of people followed this trend of pouring ice cold water on themselves or their friends to raise awareness about ALS. Celebrity involvement and a hashtag movement further prompted people to join in this challenge, without actually knowing its original purpose. |
| Red Herring | It is based on misdirecting with the use of irrelevant argument. | Red Herring is often used by parents to misdirect their children’s attention. For example, a mother diverting a child’s attention from a toy they want by talking about some yummy treat they will get when they get home while the two are unrelated matters. |
| Glittering Generalities | It involves the use of well sounding words that appeal to the audience emotionally. | The use of words like “magic eraser” and “extra power” for cleaning agents is an example because these words do not present any concrete data but are only attractive words. |
| Testimonials | It is based on the involvement of celebrities or other influential people in promoting or discouraging an idea | The success story of Sumaya Kazi is an example of testimonial as she shares videos of her weight loss. Thousands of people follow her to gain inspiration from her weight loss journey. |
| Stereotyping | It involves associating certain ideas or behaviors to a particular group of people based on prejudice. | An example of this is a recent political strategy based on instilling fear in people about immigrants. Stereotyping immigrants and associating them with crime would lead people to think that voting for such candidate will reduce that threat. |
| Beautiful People | It involves associating attractive and happy people with different products to make the masses think that using it will also make them beautiful and happy. | Use of handsome men surrounded by attractive girls to promote the use of deodorants is an example because it encourages the people to think that using it will also bring such a lifestyle for them. |
Part II: go to this link https://www.history.com/news/world-war-ii-propaganda-posters-photos-united-states-home-front and click on Gallery under the images at the top of the page to see the 18 posters you will pick from.
Directions:
- Choose three of the WWII propaganda posters to review from the link above.
- Fill out a separate chart answering questions for each poster (there are three charts here for you, the second two are on another page).
| URL of poster #1 | https://www.history.com/news/world-war-ii-propaganda-posters-photos-united-states-home-front#&gid=ci0230e630c06326df&pid=poster-by-j-howard-miller-4 |
| Who is the creator of the image? | J. Howard Miller/War Production Co-Ordinating Committee |
| Why was it created? | As during the war, thousands of American women entered the job market for the first time, including factories directly related to the war effort, this was a moment of pride for them. This poster was created to increase the morale of female worker and to encourage more women to join the work force. |
| Who is the target audience? | American women and female workforce are the audience. |
| What biases are being portrayed? | It portrays the government’s perception of women in the workplace and also shows that woman who take up war related responsibility are strong. This is portrayed by the girl flexing her muscles. |
| What is the perspective of the creators of the posters? | The creators perceive the women who broke the societal norms and entered the job market as women of strength. It idealizes strong women and associates the concept of patriotism with women. The use of ‘we’ appeals to the entire group instead of individuals. |
| How effective are the posters in persuading someone to think, believe, or act in a certain way about something? | Posters can be an effective tool as this Rosie the Riveter poster became a successful recruitment tools in American history and even now it’s a strong tool to promote feminism. |
| What propaganda strategy(ies) do you see being used in the poster? | Bandwagon |
| URL of poster #2 | https://www.history.com/news/world-war-ii-propaganda-posters-photos-united-states-home-front#&gid=ci0230e630c06326df&pid=world-war-ii-poster-by-john-newton-hewitt |
| Who is the creator of the image? | John Newton Howitt |
| Why was it created? | The poster was created to recruit more women for the war effort and encouraging them to see that they can maintain their gender roles while doing so. |
| Who is the target audience? | The American women are the main target audience. |
| What biases are being portrayed? | The poster highlights the gender roles. It shows that it’s a man’s world and women require the approval of men. |
| What is the perspective of the creators of the posters? | The creator has depicted an average American male who is supportive of his wife’s role in war related production goals. The woman is portrayed wearing lipstick and nail polish to show that they would not have to give up their femininity for war work. |
| How effective are the posters in persuading someone to think, believe, or act in a certain way about something? | These posters were quite effective and 35% of the labor force was based on women by the end of the war. |
| What propaganda strategy(ies) do you see being used in the poster? | Bandwagon, Stereotyping |
| URL of poster #3 | https://www.history.com/news/world-war-ii-propaganda-posters-photos-united-states-home-front#&gid=ci0230e630c06326df&pid=poster |
| Who is the creator of the image? | Seymour R Goff – War Advertising Council |
| Why was it created? | It was created to encourage American citizens and soldiers to refrain from careless speech that could endanger national security. |
| Who is the target audience? | American citizens and soldiers – anyone with military information |
| What biases are being portrayed? | It highlights the consequences of idle talk and points out the dire consequence of losing the war. |
| What is the perspective of the creators of the posters? | The perspective of the creator was to use imagery to instill fear of gossiping among people and to appeal to their sense of patriotism. |
| How effective are the posters in persuading someone to think, believe, or act in a certain way about something? | These posters were widely distributed and were hung all over the public places to ensure effectiveness by reaching a wider audience. |
| What propaganda strategy(ies) do you see being used in the poster? | Glittering generalities (as it appeals to emotions)
Stereotyping |
