Propaganda Techniques

Bandwagon

“Everyone is doing it, so you should too!”

In other words – you should “jump on the bandwagon”

and think/do/act/look a certain way. This technique

is very much like peer pressure.

Testimonial

Used when a famous or important person endorses a product or idea. The underlying message is that if

this important/famous person believes something is a good idea, it

must be! This is often used in commercials when showing a

famous person using a product.

Transfer

The technique of using symbols that evoke a very strong emotion- usually

something people either widely respect or despise. For example, the

American flag. EX: political candidates in front of the flag. They are trying to “transfer” the good feelings people

have about the flag onto themselves.

RepetitionThis is based on the idea that if you repeat something over and over again, people will

believe it. Whether or not it’s true – people often start

believing it after hearing it over and over.

Plain Folk

A technique that uses ordinary people or “plain folk” to gain trust and confidence with the

audience. Plain folk advertising uses words such as “family”, “home”, “children”,

or “neighbors” to create a down-home feeling.