Don’t Get Sucked In!

Seven Common Forms of Propaganda

Name Calling

Glittering Generalities

Transfer

Testimonial

Plain Folks

Card Stacking

Bandwagon

Common FormsOf Propaganda

Name-Calling• Uses names that create fear or hatred• Links a person or idea to a negative symbol• Occurs often in politics and wartime but

not often in advertising • Uses words that have a negative

connotation • Labels the target something that you

dislike• Use sarcasm and ridicule

Don’t Get Sucked In!Think about the person or idea after separating your feelings about the name from your feelings about the actual idea or proposal. Get more information before you decide.

Glittering Generalities• Use highly general, abstract statements

that can't really be proven• Evoke a positive emotional response• Occur often in politics and political

propaganda• Use virtue words • Are linked to highly valued concepts

Don’t Get Sucked In!Think about the issue after removing the glittering generalities from the actual idea or proposal.

Transfer• Attempts to link two objects or proposals • Tries to get you to feel the same way about

the two things• Creates positive or negative links• Used often in politics and during wartime

Don’t Get Sucked In!Think about the good and bad points of the idea or item separately from your beliefs about other objects or proposals, even if they are similar. Get more information before you decide.

Testimonial• Uses quotations or endorsements from

famous and/or respected people• Attempts to connect a famous or

respectable person with a product or item• Closely connected to the transfer

technique by connecting an agreeable person to another item

• Used often in advertising and political campaigns

Don’t Get Sucked In!Think about the good and bad points of the product or item apart from the person or organization giving the testimonial. Get more information before you decide.

Plain folks• Attempts to convince you that his or her

views are the same as yours and other “regular people”

• Appears to be beneficial to you and other “regular people”

• Uses vocabulary, speech patterns, activities, inside jokes and references to convince you that “we’re the same”

• Very effective when used with glittering generalities

• Attempts to convince you that their views are valid because they are similar to yours

• Used often in political campaigns

Don’t Get Sucked In!Think about the proposals and ideas separately from the style they are presented in and the personality of the presenter. Get more information before you decide.

Card stacking• Presents only information that is positive

to an idea or proposal • Omits negative information• Used in almost all forms of propaganda• Extremely effective • Most of the information is true • Dangerous because it leaves out important

information

Don’t Get Sucked In!Get more information before you make a decision.

Bandwagon• Encourages you to follow the crowd• Tries to convince you that one side will win

because it has the most people• Used frequently in many forms• Extremely effective • May try to convince you that you’ll be left

out if you don’t participate, since everyone else has joined in

• Used in advertising, wartime, and peacetime

Don’t Get Sucked In!Think about the good points and bad points of joining instead of thinking about the number of people who have already joined. Get more information before you decide.