What is Propaganda?

Propaganda is a way of communication that is used to influence the opinion or decision of a group of
people with regards to a particular subject, object, cause or issue. Propaganda techniques mostly rest
upon the revelation of partial facts and conveyance of sentimentally charged messages so that the
audience is able to perform partial evaluation or take emotional, rather than rational decisions regarding
the subject matter of the propaganda. Propaganda can take various forms. Broadly speaking, there are
seven distinct types of propaganda. Let's take a look at each type, along with examples of different
propaganda techniques in detail.

Different Propaganda Techniques

The seven different techniques of propaganda are bandwagon, card stacking, glittering generality,
testimonial, plain folks, name calling and transfer. Let's look at how each technique works along with
separate propaganda examples for each technique.

Bandwagon

This is the best example of promoting and glorifying the herd mentality through communication media.
The bandwagon technique of propaganda is designed to make the target audience feel inadequate and
left out by pointing out that unless they do or buy a certain thing, they would not be going the right way,
the way which everyone else is supposedly following. This technique influences the audience to take a
decision based upon the majority factor. Most of the time, politicians and advertisers convince the
target audience that one side or product is the winning side/product and that going for anything else
would reveal the target audience as an immature decision maker and a loser. Since the average human
being feels safe going with the majority and being part of the crowd, this propaganda technique is very
successful in influencing opinions and decisions in favor of a product, an idea or a campaign! An example
of bandwagon propaganda would be, say, the advertisement campaign of a car which, as per the ad
message, everyone is driving home these days. The message may include one liners such as, "Everyone's
driving home an XYZ, would you still want to be stuck with your last-decade sedan?"

Card Stacking

Card stacking is the deliberate omission of certain facts and inclusion of positive ones. Partial facts and
truths are revealed to the target audience and certain potentially unsavory facts are either omitted or
cleverly concealed in the final message. This technique is used in almost all types of propaganda. The
most common example of card stacking can be seen in case of marketing financial products where the
advertisement says everything about the investment and return potential in detail but rushes through
the part where it speaks about market risks. Another good example can be seen in credit card sales
where the details about installment conversion, zero interest rates and other frills are conveyed in detail
but a customer usually comes to discover the concept of "processing" fees when making payments on
the due date!

Glittering Generalities
This method is effective for manipulating the audience at an emotional and psychological level.
Glittering generalities involve the clever play of certain positive words which present an important idea
that rings of high ethics and moral values! This method is most commonly used to promote national and
political causes. Messages for recruitment in the defense and armed forces are good examples as they
promote the idea of patriotism and democracy! Include a phrase like "in defense of democracy" or "it's
time you proved your patriotism" to the relevant slogan and you've got a winner!

Name Calling

This is a negative, often derogatory type of propaganda technique. Examples of propaganda employing
name calling are most common in political campaigns and reality shows. Name calling, as the term
suggests, involves calling one's opponent or rival with derogatory and negatively embarrassing names.
Campaigns against an idea, such as non-vegetarianism, often use this technique of name calling when
they term chicken and livestock rearing farms as "cruel", "inhuman", "monstrous", etc. Some social
cause campaigns, like a campaign against domestic violence or child abuse, may use the terms
"monster" and "beast" to drive in the negative connotations of the culprits and abusers.

Plain Folks

In advertising, this method is also known as "slice-of-life". This technique employs convincing the target
audience that the campaign of propagandist is in line with what the common man believes in. A good
example would be a campaign for an inoculation or vaccination drive where common-looking, unknown
models are used to emphasize the validity and benefits of participating in such a drive.

Testimonials

This technique involves the endorsement of a product or idea by a well-known public figure or a popular
celebrity. Such a celebrity is made to emphasize the benefits of the product and validity of an idea from
an apparently personal point of view. Check out all advertisements for L'Oreal Hair color - from Claire
Forlani to Penelope Cruz, it's testimonials all the way!

Transfer

This method involves transferring a, mostly negative, connotation that is attributed to a certain person
or idea to all other things or people that relate to such person or idea. This technique is mostly used
during political campaigns where the infamy that is linked with the name of one political figure is spread
to the entire party and all his associates by the rival propagandist. For instance, a few years ago, the
detection of pesticide traces in one of the major carbonated beverage brands was transferred to and
associated with all other carbonated beverage brands and during this period, fruit juice and energy drink
brands did great business. If you read the papers, you know which brands I'm talking about!

I hope the propaganda techniques along with separate examples for each technique discussed above
serves to clear the concepts surrounding them. Be it marketing a product or selling an idea, campaign or
promoting a cause, the concept of propaganda as a persuasive communication technique is as old as the
history of human civilization. Some of the most internationally significant and classic instances of
propaganda-induced occurrences include such chapters of world history as the Holocaust and the
Afghan War. Such is the power of strategic propaganda that if resourcefully employed, it