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The Parts of Propaganda

Anyone who has ever taken a history course is familiar with propaganda, most commonly presented in the forms of cartoons and catchy slogans. Propaganda pervades society, encouraging people to think a certain way, adopt a certain point of view, or rally for a certain cause. It is clearly an effective tool as it has been used by many governments, big companies, and other organizations to great success. Propaganda, however, does not stand alone. It is interconnected with other ideas recognized in media studies to make it so powerful; propaganda is simply a way to spread ideology through public pedagogy. These three together create an, as mentioned before, incredibly powerful and effective tool in controlling people through their thoughts and feelings to propel them towards action.

One of the most poignant examples of this is the way the US Army uses propaganda to recruit civilians into enlisting. To understand why this is so, one must first understand what propaganda is. Propaganda is essentially information with a bias, presented to fulfill a goal. The way that it reaches people is through media and media is controlled by those with power (read: money). How this happens is explained by Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky’s propaganda model. There are five filters that make up the propaganda model but the two most pertinent to this example are the third and the fifth; “(3) the reliance of media on information provided by the government, business, and “experts” funded and approved by these primary sources and agents of power...and (5) “anticommunism” as a national religion and control mechanism.” (Herman and Chomsky 2) The third filter explains that the media uses information from trusted sources such as the government and big business to make their content credible. Additionally, the government knows they have massive influence over the media content released and so it is possible for them to release information that paints them in a good light and bury information that does not. The US Army is a branch of the US National Defense, run by the US Government and it benefits from the credibility given to governmental sources. Civilians have no reason to believe that the boisterous Army ads are propaganda because they come directly from the government. The fifth filter plays into this as well. Rallying a nation to band together against a perceived threat is a tried and true way of strengthening its military. In the present day, it may not be anti-communism but rather things such as anti-terrorism sentiment that the Army uses as fuel to get civilians to join up and fight against.

As mentioned before, propaganda is a way to spread ideology.  In the case of the US Army, it is used to spread militarism, the belief that a country should have a strong military to protect itself and its ideals. The constant barrage of advertisements with slogans such as “Be All You Can Be” and  “Army Strong” appeal to civilians in order to convince them to join the army; slogans that appeal to emotions and tap into one’s desire to strengthen oneself and better oneself. These, accompanied by dramatic action shots of soldiers in the field make a compelling combination for those watching, making it easy to buy into militarism. The issue is that ideology is often “in part or wholly false (illusory).” (Williams 55) yet people still believe it as if it is gospel truth. Militarism is no exception however the emotional appeal makes it difficult to sway opinions with facts, contributing to the efficacy of the propaganda presented as advertisements.

The last component of propaganda is public pedagogy. Public pedagogy is the idea that learning not only takes place in traditional venues such as school but also in the outside world through popular culture and mass media. This has massive influence and the power to shape worldviews and get people to adopt ideologies simply through constant exposure. With the US Army broadcasting advertisements with the intent of recruitment through mass media, it becomes a part of public pedagogy. Much like Disney does this, as explained in Henry A. Giroux’s essay, “Public Pedagogy and Rodent Politics: Cultural Studies and the Challenge of Disney”, the US Army pushes its ideology onto adults and children. By shaping civilian’s ideals and the way they view the army, the US Army promotes itself and worms itself into their consciousness without them even realizing it. If the word “Disney” were to be replaced with “the US Army” in the sentence, “Disney has given a new meaning to the politics of innocence as a narrative for shaping public memory and...promot[ing] a sanitized version of American history.” (Giroux 258), it would still hold true. Though it seems extreme, the US Army ads shown to the public are a far cry from the reality of everything the US Army has done, atrocities and all. Civilians are only given the “sanitized” story and therefore often do not completely see the army for what it is. They are only exposed only the positive and marketable parts and so they believe wholeheartedly in the cause.

The efficacy of US Army recruitment ads has been proven, with the National Defense Research Institute reporting that in years that there have been increased spending in marketing, the number of contracts has also increased. This is a strong case study in propaganda and its ability to produce results. By examining this singular example of propaganda, it is clear to see how it is broken down and how each of its parts contribute to the overall efficacy.

A dog dressed in a military uniform to parody the US Army slogan, “Army Strong” and demonstrate how catchy slogans are often used in propaganda.

Public Pedagogy often comes from mass media. This meme pokes fun at parents that use technology to “babysit” their children while claiming that the children are in fact learning through public pedagogy.

A photo of a cat on the White House podium demonstrates how media companies almost always get their information from government sources and people often believe it unquestioningly as the government has massive credibility.

This meme shows that most people do not even know that much of the advertising they are exposed to is actually propaganda in an unassuming disguise.

Works Cited

Chomsky, Noam, and Edward S. Herman. “A Propaganda Model.” Manufacturing Consent, Pantheon Books, 1988, pp. 1–35.

Dertouzos, James N. “The Cost-Effectiveness of Military Advertising.” Rand.org, 2009, www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/documented_briefings/2009/RAND_DB565.pdf.

Giroux, Henry A. “Public Pedagogy and Rodent Politics: Cultural Studies and the Challenge of Disney .” Arizona Journal of Hispanic Cultural Studies, 1998.

Williams, Raymond. “Ideology.” Marxism and Literature, Oxford University Press, 1977, pp. 55–71.