Examples · For students

Propaganda examples for students

Fourteen classroom-safe examples arranged by the seven devices of 1937, two for each, with the questions to ask of them.

14 examples7 groups

The Institute for Propaganda Analysis gave schools a list of seven devices in 1937, and they still work as a first lens. Each pair below is one poster or passage per device, chosen to be shown in any classroom. Every poster page ends with discussion questions, and the lesson plans build on the same set. Teachers may print and copy any page; see the terms.

Name-calling

Giving a thing a bad label so that it is rejected without being examined.

Halt the Hun! Buy U.S. Government bonds 12345 Halt the Hun! Buy U.S. Government bonds United States · 1918 · 5 techniques "The Hun" instead of "the German." The last dog of the Entente 1234 The last dog of the Entente Soviet Union · 1920 · 4 techniques A nation as a dog, named.

Glittering generalities

Virtue words that nobody can argue with.

We Can Do It! 1234 We Can Do It! United States · 1942 · 4 techniques A year of the proletarian dictatorship 12345 A year of the proletarian dictatorship Soviet Union · 1918 · 5 techniques

Transfer

Borrowing the authority of a symbol.

Your country needs you 12345 Your country needs you United Kingdom · 1914 · 5 techniques The greatest mother in the world 1234 The greatest mother in the world United States · 1918 · 4 techniques

Testimonial

A respected or hated person endorses the idea.

1920s–1930s · advertising Opera singers for Lucky Strike.

Lucky Strike's "Reach for a Lucky instead of a sweet" campaign (from 1928) paired the slogan with endorsements from actresses and opera singers who praised the cigarette's effect on their throats and figures. The endorsers' fame, not any medical fact, carried the claim.

Testimonial Brandt, Allan M. The Cigarette Century. New York: Basic Books, 2007.
1946–1952 · cigarettes Doctors for Camels.

R. J. Reynolds ran "More Doctors Smoke Camels Than Any Other Cigarette" from 1946, citing a survey the company's own agency had conducted at medical conventions where Camels had been handed out free. The campaign borrowed the standing of physicians for a product that physicians were, within a decade, publicly warning against.

Testimonial Brandt, Allan M. The Cigarette Century. New York: Basic Books, 2007; Gardner, Martha N., and Allan M. Brandt....

Plain folks

The speaker as one of us.

Dig on for victory 1234 Dig on for victory United Kingdom · 1941 · 4 techniques Have you volunteered? 12345 Have you volunteered? Soviet Union · 1920 · 5 techniques

Card stacking

Only the facts that help.

United we win 1234 United we win United States · 1943 · 4 techniques Join the Navy, your country needs you 1234 Join the Navy, your country needs you United States · 1917 · 4 techniques

Bandwagon

Everyone else already has.

Women of Britain say "Go!" 1234 Women of Britain say "Go!" United Kingdom · 1915 · 4 techniques Food will win the war 123 Food will win the war United States · 1917 · 3 techniques
More examples
  • Propaganda examples in historyPosters and passages from 1898 to 1964, grouped by period, each tied to the technique it uses and the source it comes from.
  • Propaganda examples in advertisingThe same devices, sold by the column inch: borrowed authority, numbers that mislead, words that do the work, pictures that promise, and the crowd that is already buying.
  • Propaganda examples in social mediaFake people, fake crowds, fake pictures, and a feed built to reward anger: the documented cases behind the digital-era techniques.
  • Propaganda examplesTwelve of the clearest examples on the site, one per turn of the century, each annotated pin by pin. Start here, then follow a theme.