Propaganda

During World War II, the government and other private sponsors were willing to create any image to convince people to believe their opinions. They installed fear and hate through their posters and used many methods of persuasion, including rhetoric, to do so. They put the citizens in fear to keep them under their control and persuade them into doing things like buying war bonds. The posters told people to save their waste because anything could be used to make weapons in the depression that they were in. The posters advocated keeping quite about the war, buying only what you need, and portrayed the Japanese and Germans as barbaric and evil.

            At this point in time, propaganda is usually significantly less offensive than it was during the forties because everyone is supposed to be considered equal now and it is unacceptable to rudely portray groups of people. In the 1940s posters made jokes about women being able to do men’s jobs. An occurrence like that would be revolted against and improper in current times.

            The topics of propaganda now are very different than those from sixty years ago. As times have changed, so has the propaganda used to portray peoples’ opinions and messages. Now many posters revolve around the oil spill, the War in Iraq, and the president, who is commonly targeted by propagandists. With all the new technology, the government and any business can get their message out a lot faster than the out-dated propaganda posters could do. They can project their opinions through TV shows, radios, and many other forms of technology and the speed of word travelling is much faster.

            These days, news shows like 60 minutes and NBC Dateline discuss current issues and implant ideas into viewers’ heads as did the posters of the 40s. Shows like The 700 Club, a Christian organization that talks about current issue share their biased, fictional opinions with viewers who, since many don’t know better, believe them. They think the show is credible when frankly, it’s junk.

            Two of the pictures I have attached have to do with the recent oil spill in the gulf. The one with the little boy shows how vacations have been ruined and kids disappointed because they can’t play in the clear ocean without getting oil on them. It also shows some dead animals that are covered in oil and can’t be saved. This is negative advertisement for the BP Company but could also advocate people helping with the recovery of the gulf.  The other is the BP logo, which is closely associated with the company in viewers’ minds, and in the picture it seems to be leaking in to the water and contaminating the area. It calls the mess up “not so slick, actually” which is ironic for an oil company so it sabotages their reputation.

            The other picture I have added shows George Bush standing with a group of representatives from different oil companies. It was likely created by someone who believes that Bush started the war primarily to get oil from the Middle Eastern countries. By removing the leader of the country from power, the can retrieve oil from his land.

            Contemporary propaganda has the same motives as propaganda from 60 years ago, only about different topics. These days, someone’s message can get to millions of people faster and therefore it is easier to convey one’s opinion.