Propaganda Devices

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Circular Reasonin

Testimonial

Bandwagon

-A political party holds a rally with much flag-waving and razz-a-ma-tazz.

-A new religious group ensures all of its members attend services and become active participants in recruiting new members.

Appeal to authority

- "The Spot: Actor Luke Wilson stands atop a giant map of the United States, reciting a list of cities and towns for which AT&T provides wireless phone coverage. As he mentions each place, he Frisbees a postcard through the air. 'If you want coverage, we've got it,' says the announcer. . . .

Appeal to fear

- "If you continue to drink, you will die early as your father did."
- "If you cannot graduate from high school, you will live in poverty for the rest of your life."
- "Voting for him is the same as voting for the terrorists."

Appeal to sympathy

- I have hurt my leg. Can you drive, please?
- Just look at these pictures of the children. Can you donate something to help them?
- I haven't completed my work as my dog just died.

Appeal to vanity

- Played dead straight in an ad for a resume posting site. A man playing tennis is mobbed by uninvited spectators from the stands trying to get in on the game. Most of them are terrible players, and tennis balls are flying every which way. VO: "When you let everybody play, nobody wins." Apparently the first player's resume is getting lost in all the others on whatever site he's posting it. The tagline: "$100k+ jobs for $100k+ jobseekers". It turns out that the reason Our Hero couldn't find his dream job was because he was surrounded by the hoi polloi!

- Say this in your most snobby voice: "Pardon me, would you have any Grey Poupon?" Their early commercials played the "Snob Appeal" straight, but later commercials evolved into self-parody.

Appeal to tradition

- Sure I believe in God. People have believed in God for thousands of years so it seems clear that God must exist. After all, why else would the belief last so long?

- Sure I believe in God. People have believed in God for thousands of years so it seems clear that God must exist. After all, why else would the belief last so long?

Straw man

Person A: We should liberalize the laws on beer.
Person B: No, any society with unrestricted access to intoxicants loses its work ethic and goes only for immediate gratification.

Either-Or

- Either she or the boys have made a mess in this room.
- Either the students or the teacher takes a day off every month.

False Analogy

- Employees are like nails. Just as nails must be hit in the head in order to make them work, so must employees.
- Government is like business, so just as business must be sensitive primarily to the bottom line, so also must government. (But the objectives of government and business are completely different, so probably they will have to meet different criteria.)

Sweeping Generalization

- "Does a gun in the home make you safer? No. Despite claims by the National Rifle Association (NRA) that you need a gun in your home to protect you and your family from possible home invasion, public health research demonstrates that the most person likely to shoot you or a family member with a gun already has the keys to your house. Simply put: Guns kept in the home for self-protection are more oftentimes [sic] used to kill somebody you know than to kill in self-defense; 22 times more likely, according to a 1998 study by the New England Journal of Medicine."

Hasty Generalization

- Smith, who is from England, decides to attend graduate school at Ohio State University. He has never been to the US before. The day after he arrives, he is walking back from an orientation session and sees two white (albino) squirrels chasing each other around a tree. In his next letter home, he tells his family that American squirrels are white.

- Sam is riding her bike in her home town in Maine, minding her own business. A station wagon comes up behind her and the driver starts beeping his horn and then tries to force her off the road. As he goes by, the driver yells "get on the sidewalk where you belong!" Sam sees that the car has Ohio plates and concludes that all Ohio drivers are jerks.

Plain Folks

-Visiting a church, the President dresses in a dark suit and blue shirt. He walks slowly and with hands together in front of him. He talks gravely with people. He sings with joy and prays with fervor. Later that day, he has changed into denims and fleece top to take the dog for a walk. Along the way, he meets another dog owner and exchanges cheery pleasantries.

Ad Hominem

- Bill: "I believe that abortion is morally wrong." Dave: "Of course you would say that, you're a priest." Bill: "What about the arguments I gave to support my position?" Dave: "Those don't count. Like I said, you're a priest, so you have to say that abortion is wrong. Further, you are just a lackey to the Pope, so I can't believe what you say."