To begin, I am really enjoying and appreciating this little book. I think it states a lot of things that the 'common people' may be picking up on, but don't fully comprehend or pay attention to when it comes to propaganda, predominantly in advertisements and politics.
The very first example given is a perfect case of what I feel is the common setup of advertising propaganda. Sellers gauge what is a current focus of people's problems, and then sell them a "cure" for it (or at least something that will help take away the severity). However, later in the chapter there was another example of some such "miracle" remedy. Not to try and rank propaganda's effectiveness or credibility, but Guerro's "Supreme Greens" formula was advertised as able to cure everything from fatigue to cancer, along with helping the consumer lose weight. Written in the text, it seems highly unbelievable that anyone would believe such a claim (when the cure for cancer is still unknown, and if it were to be found, it would most likely be published from somewhere other than an infomercial). However, Guerro still managed to sell his product, which just goes to show how much "spin" the public is willing to believe, despite its form.
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I definitely agree with you that people can pick up on facets of propaganda without really recognizing its full scope; it's kind of like when you see an infomercial that's so ridiculously cheesy and bad that you almost have to laugh at it, and yet you don't really recognize that the reasons behind it. Because it's not just that the people acting in it are way too enthusiastic, or that the descriptions they use to inflate the product are more flowery and epic than a Hallmark card; the truth of the matter is, if the product were really that great, neither of those things would need to be used. So often advertising is so obnoxious and ostentatious simply to mask the basic simplicity or faultiness of the product being soil.
ReplyDeleteTara, I can see that you're enjoying (laughing at) this book as much as I am. I can't get over the amount of information such a little book can contain. I don't know how you feel about the Listerine examples, but I found them to be pretty interesting. I never realized that they "promised to kill bad breath." I figured all mouth wash brands promised to do that, but I guess Listerine was trying to claim that it cured the disease of having bad breath. I can't believe the government doesn't have stronger regulations on advertising. It really shocks me. Ads are probably the biggest form of deception, and it's funny that we find ourselves falling for them everyday. Great comments about the reading.
ReplyDeleteI think it’s amazing how ads like the ones mentioned get people to buy into their claims but the ads do play on peoples emotions. If you have terrible breath or cancer and you see an ad on in the middle of the night that claims to cure all that it may seem like your last hope. It's sad the way some companies cash in on peoples emotions and fears. I could ask how in the world people could believe such ridiculous claims but I think they really want to believe them for the sake of hope.
ReplyDeleteAnother example is the Lypozine weight loss product. The name makes you think of liposuction, and the ad claims that the product makes you lose pounds of weight and that 78% of the weight loss was fat. If you look at the bottom of the screen, it says 3.78lbs lost over an 8 weeks study vs. nothing
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