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Propaganda in Media Advertising
Introducing Information between Emphasis and Repression in Advertising.

Media companies use advertising to advance propaganda. Studies have reported that organizations use advertising to promote economic propaganda by influencing how consumers perceive brands. Ideally, consumers need to have access to all the necessary information that is required to make purchase decisions. On the contrary, advertisements contain positive and exaggerated information that is intended to convince a consumer to buy a particular product (Rabab'ah and Khawaldeh 7). Many adverts are known to include phrases such as "50 percent stronger" or "Less than 30 percent fat,” which are highly emphasized. These statements mislead consumers who fail to take into account the shortcomings associated with products that are typically repressed in the advert while focusing on exaggerated features (Soules 21). Accordingly, this strategy amounts to propaganda since companies use it to cause consumers to make irrational decisions by intentional influencing.

Reference Propaganda through Name Calling (Advertising)

Name-calling has traditionally existed as a common technique for propaganda, as it involves making statements that demean and undermine a competitor without necessarily being true (Rabab'ah and Khawaldeh 8). Common brand names such as Coca-Cola and Pepsi have been known to engage in name-calling (Koschmann and Sheth 24). The two companies often come up with advertisements that undermine the products that the other offers. Similarly, Burger King ran an ad that featured its sandwich “The Whopper” being bigger than the box that McDonald’s uses in packing its “Big Mac” hamburger (Handley 1). These examples underscore how companies have resorted to using name-calling in advertising rather than highlighting how their products would benefit the consumer. Consequently, these organizations manage to persuade and manipulate consumers into making purchase decisions based on misleading information.

Bandwagon Propaganda (Advertising)

Companies increasingly use the technique in advertising their products and services. This method seeks to convince a consumer to make a purchase decision out of the fear of being left out. Claiming that millions of consumers are using their products or services and that it would be a mistake not to be part of the trend.

Transfer Propaganda (Advertising)

Entailing advertisement to projecting positive or negative feelings that a person has regarding a specific idea or person to another. The goal of transfer propaganda in advertising is to cause the consumer to associate a product with positive or negative qualities such as patriotism and nationalism in their product evaluation.

Testimonial Propaganda (Advertising)

Advertisements across the world also contain aspects of testimonial propaganda. Notably, this strategy involves including influential people, as well as authority figures and experts, in adverts to attract the attention of consumers. A toothpaste advert that claims that 99 percent of dentists would recommend the product is an example of how testimonial propaganda occurs in advertising. Similarly, companies or campains are known to use celebrities in endorsing different products through both traditional and modern advertising channels.