13 Advertising / Propaganda Techniques

Definitions:

13 Advertising / Propaganda Techniques

“Swimming Pool” PSA

“Don’t do crack” PSA

“If you use pot you’re not using your brain” PSA

“This is your brain on drugs” PSA

“I learned it by watching you” PSA

“When I grow up” PSA

Equivocation

Analogy

Slogans

Bandwagon Effect

• comparing 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.

• a phrase used in a political or commercial campaign repeatedly
• Slogans are meant to be simple, as they express a shared purpose or idea.

• suggests one should do something because everyone else is doing 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'

• when a word is used in two different senses in an argument. Take for example the following:
• 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.
• Equivocation can be used to manipulate people, by making false arguments sound convincing.

Appeal to Fear

Appeal to Authority

Conflict

Testimonials

• If you can make people scared, then they will believe or buy anything.
• We see it in advertising, political campaigns and public service announcements.

• an advertisement that refers to a source that claims to have authority.
• assumes that authorities or institutions are right.
• This, however, does not have to be true by definition.

• relies on the audience's interest in seeing the conflict resolved.
• If you think about how children are intrigued by fights in the schoolyard, then you understand how conflict in advertising draws our attention to a product.
• Conflict in advertising can sometimes lead to shock advertising if scandalous or controversial, which goes one step further in creating a media-hype and drawing attention to the product or brand. 

• If someone tells you about a personal experience with a product, then you are likely to believe that person. 
• audience may be able to identify with person giving the testimonial

Generalizations

Shock

Problem / Benefit

Use of Celebrities

• when large conclusions are drawn from a few instances.
• 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 sucks,' would be a generalization.

• used to gain attention
• If an advertisement is controversial, then it gains free publicity through the press and on blogs.
• Even though this kind of publicity can be negative, it is still publicity nonetheless.
• leads to brand awareness and an eventual rise in sales
• interest is solely on creating a very memorable impact on their audience

•  If you can convince someone that they have a problem, you can sell them a solution.
• If an audience can identify with one characteristic of the problem, then they can be persuaded to believe that they must buy into the solution. 

• often see the use of celebrities to try to sell us an idea or product.
• relies on the premise that people want to be like the celebrities.
• If the celebrities endorse a product then it must be good, right?

Anti-Advertising

• draws your attention to and makes you aware of the conventions of advertising
• anti-ads seem to tell the audience that they are smart enough to see through the tricks played by advertisers