Advertisements Persuasion, Propaganda, & the Portrayal of Men and Women

Propaganda Information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread widely to help or harm a person, group, movement, institution, nation, etc. (

A form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position. (

As opposed to impartially providing information, propaganda, in its most basic sense, presents information primarily to influence an audience. Propaganda often presents facts selectively (thus possibly lying by omission) to encourage a particular synthesis, or uses loaded messages to produce an emotional rather than rational response to the information presented. The desired result is a change of the attitude toward the subject in the target audience to further an agenda.

US Office for War Information poster implying that working less helped the Axis powers.

Nazi Poster depicting American "liberators" as monster.

Walls of the former US embassy in Tehran, Iran covered in anti- American mural

Words and images can be very persuasive…

A form of psychological warfare that militaries use in foreign conflict to alter the behavior of people in enemy-controlled territory. Humanitarian air missions, in cooperation with leaflet propaganda, are also successful in turning civilians against enemy leadership while preparing them for the arrival of enemy troops. Leaflet Bomb

Propaganda Techniques in Advertisements

Testimonial Using a famous person to endorse a product

Bandwagon Everybody’s doing it, so don’t get left out

Glittering Generalities The use of words that sound great but on further evaluation mean very little

Distortion Shading basic facts by omitting some facts, overemphasizing others, mixing facts with opinions, or using slanted or misleading words to get the reader’s attention

Name Calling Criticizing other products to make your own look better

Beauty Industry Propaganda in Advertisements…what you are most familiar with.

Girls and Women "Girls and teenagers are perhaps most vulnerable to beauty-industry propaganda. For them, advertising is a window into adult life, a lesson in what it means to be a woman. And lacking the sophistication of their older sisters and mothers, girls are less likely to distinguish between fact and advertising fiction." -- Michael F. Jacobsen/ Laurie Anne Mazur

Girls, how do these ads make you feel? What negative consequences does the objectification of women in advertisements have on women and men? What must be done to convince people that the objectification of women has negative consequences for all of us?

Boys and Men

Boys, how are you portrayed in these ads? How do the negative portrayals of men in advertising differ from the portrayals of women? Why do you believe that men are now being targeted more by advertisers than they were in the past?

Mary Pipher Explains

The Truth about Women

For More Information… Reviving Ophelia, by Mary Pipher

How will your newspaper use propaganda to persuade your audience? *Advertisements *Political Cartoons *Editorials