Propaganda is basically the way people try to get you to believe something or do something…it’s ways to convince you to think their way. Like all the campaign ads we’re seeing! That’s all propaganda…trying to make you believe something, whatever it is. Did you all see the Hillary Clinton 3:00 a.m. phone call ad? That’s propaganda…and what it’s doing is trying to make you afraid NOT to vote for Hillary, like you might not be safe if you voted for something else. It’s using fear as a tool to get you to vote one way. Now, I’m pretty happy to see a woman running for president, but I don’t really like to see that kind of ad, based on trying to make people afraid, because I don’t think it’s really true that you should be afraid to vote for someone else. But, the other thing that’s true is, all the candidates use propaganda!

And there are different kinds of propaganda, that works in different ways. Not just in political campaigns, but in all kind of advertisements! Propaganda tries to make you believe one thing, without giving you the whole story…so you can’t make decisions just based on propaganda. Sometimes it’s not very honest!

A testimonial is a kind of propaganda…that’s when a celebrity says they like a certain sports drink, or puts their name on a shoe. Or, when Oprah endorses Barack Obama.

Another type of propaganda is the “bandwagon” technique…telling you what everyone else is doing, and trying to get you to do something just because it’s popular.  Propaganda can also try to get you to do something because powerful or wealthy people do it…people you want to be like. Or, it can be like the Axe commercials…saying that the product makes you more sexy!

Then, there’s how propaganda uses words. “Glittering generality” is the term for attractive words that don’t really say anything. For example: “Ultra Power” or “Silk Beauty.” That doesn’t really tell you what the product does!

“Name calling” means attacking the competition, and saying that they’re bad… and “plain folks” is kind of like celebrity endorsements in reverse, saying that plain, ordinary people use the products.

That’s just a few ways that advertisers sell you products…and ideas…and political candidates. When you’re sitting down to watch TV, take a look at what the ads say…and see what propaganda techniques they’re using to try to get you to buy! It’ll help you build up critical thinking for the GED…and learn a little bit about the “social studies” in your everyday life.