Guess Who's Back?
This poor weblog has become my neglected cyber child in recent weeks and damn near months. But like real weekend dads, I'm going to attempt to make right within a two-day span. I was perusing the suggested topics and found that there were ones from the end of September I hadn't responded to. With that said, this post's in reference to the 9/25 list of suggestions. I'm going with: Visual images and propaganda--what if anything is wrong with propaganda? Does it matter if it's for (what you see as) a good cause?
Because propaganda can be filtered through virtually any medium, it's something that surrounds our lives. You can't watch TV, flip through a magazine or even attend a live sporting event without having some sort of constructed message being ingrained in your mind. Personally, I think propaganda has gotten a bad rap. Because it's so widespread and versatile in functions, it's historically been tied to negative things. It's encouraged hatred, discrimination, and war, among other things.
Propaganda's main purpose is to sell something. Whether it's a product or state of mind, it's trying to alter something, anything, in your life. For reasons mentioned above, this isn't always a positive. But when it comes to something like peddling a brand of clothing or new product your life would be worthless without, I can't help but tip my non-existent cap to them. They may be reinforcing a shallow existence driven by material goods, but they're doing a damn fine job of it.
It's ultimately up to the people to accept or reject the given message. The fact that so many people are sway by slick advertising doesn't say much for them, but at the same time, it's a credit to how well the advertisers have done their job. As someone who relies on others buying into a message or product (I sell on eBay), I'm aware that this isn't always a simple task. So when it's done well, I have to give credit where it's due.
Because propaganda can be filtered through virtually any medium, it's something that surrounds our lives. You can't watch TV, flip through a magazine or even attend a live sporting event without having some sort of constructed message being ingrained in your mind. Personally, I think propaganda has gotten a bad rap. Because it's so widespread and versatile in functions, it's historically been tied to negative things. It's encouraged hatred, discrimination, and war, among other things.
Propaganda's main purpose is to sell something. Whether it's a product or state of mind, it's trying to alter something, anything, in your life. For reasons mentioned above, this isn't always a positive. But when it comes to something like peddling a brand of clothing or new product your life would be worthless without, I can't help but tip my non-existent cap to them. They may be reinforcing a shallow existence driven by material goods, but they're doing a damn fine job of it.
It's ultimately up to the people to accept or reject the given message. The fact that so many people are sway by slick advertising doesn't say much for them, but at the same time, it's a credit to how well the advertisers have done their job. As someone who relies on others buying into a message or product (I sell on eBay), I'm aware that this isn't always a simple task. So when it's done well, I have to give credit where it's due.
posted by Alex at 10:15 AM
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