How has this unit caused you to think differently about advertisements?

This unit caused me to think differently about advertisements by teaching me three things which are  propaganda, principled, and persuasion. We learned those, because advertisements always use those in order to make people to buy their products or do things which they want. And these are the meanings for propaganda, principled, and persuasion:

Propaganda: carefully chosen words and pictures to persuade person’s emotions,opinions, attitudes, and behavior.

Principled: Honest, taking responsibility, doing the right thing(s).

Persuasion: Asking audience to do something: opinions and reasons.

After learning each meanings of propaganda, principled, and persuasion, we were able to distinguish pictures whether they were used in propaganda, principled, or persuasion. This is one of my works:

Finally,we learned more deeply about a big subject called propaganda. And I had been thinking that propaganda is an adjective which is for advertisements or other things such as medias which have used careful chosen words or pictures that gives storng feelings to people and make them to do things they want. But different from my thought, the propagandas separated in five ways which were Bandwagon, Testimonial, Transfer, Repetition, and Plain Folk. We learned each meanings as same as we learned meanings of propaganda, principled, and prersuasion. Then our teacher Mrs. Major gave us an assignment which was making our own one of the five types of propaganda used advertisement. And this is my Testimonial advertisement:

Can propaganda be principled? Why or why not?  Explain your answer with the definitions of propaganda and principled and with examples of propaganda you’ve been viewing .

I can’t say propaganda can be whether principled or not, because it depends on how it gets used for. I will show you two propaganda examples which are carefully used, but try to change your feelings, behaviors, attitudes, or thinking .

Example A. A popular pop star named Beyonce comes out in a junk food commercial and says, “Even I who really cares about my intake eats this yummy hamburger every morning.” then the junk food company would have used Testimonial type of propaganda. The propaganda which has used in the junk food commercial will not be principled, because every woman would start eating the hamburger which Beyonce has advertised and get fat. So this propaganda, which was used for this commercial, is not principled and used in negative way, because it is for the junk food company and the pop star Beyonce’s revenue.

Example B. A poster which is a picture of a cigarette shaped train and there is phrase “Riding this cigarette train is easy. But getting off from this train is difficult.”. This advertisement is used Transfer type of propagana, because it gives you a strong punch with its message. And also it is principled, because first of all, it is saying the fact that once it becomes habit such as smoking, it is easy to get use to it, but hard to stop it. And it is doing the right thing by stop letting people to smoke. And finally, it has its own responsibility by saying it is easy to get use to it but hard to end up so let’s not addict in smoking.

From these, are you able to see that although two commercials are both propagandas but one is principled and another is not? If yes, then you should always need to be becareful while you are looking at commercials and determine whether it is principled that you can believe or it has used a propaganda in a negative way!

What is your favorite commercial? What happens? What is it trying to get you to do? Does it use propaganda?

My favorite commercial is one of the Kobaco (Korea Public Campaign Commercial Organization) ‘s commercials which got 2010′s Best Public Campaign Award titled “Low Carbon Green Growth”.

As the title tells you, this commercial has been made in order to decrease the carbon dioxide and make the earth clean as before. The children are singing about changing earth by promoting environmentally friendly ways of doing things.  There are two different actions coming out in each rhyme which are similar but one is increasing the carbon dioxide and one isn’t. I will translate this Korean commercial into English  in order to make you to understand this commercial:

Children Singing:

♪♭♩♬    Don’t press (action of a man pressing a brake of his car) but press (action of a man pressing his bicycle’s pedal).

Don’t put up (action of a man putting up the heat in his room) but put up (action of a man putting up his zipper on his jacket).

Don’t hold (action of a woman who is trying to hold on to the elevator in order to ride it) but hold (action of a woman holding the stair handle).

Don’t put (action of a woman carrying a disposable plastic bag which is full of groceries) but put (action of a woman and a girl carrying a reusable grocery bag).

Don’t start (action of a man starting the car engine) but start (action of a male and a female starting walking).

Don’t think for yourself (action of a woman and her children smiling) but think for everyone (action of a happy polar bear family). ♪♭♩♬

Narrator:

The actions look similar but the results are completely opposite.

The more you fulfill in making earth green, the less CO2(carbon dioxide) situates.

Korea Public Campaign Commercial Organization

This commercial is trying to promote the ways which are good for the environment and for others, instead of using the convenient ways which harm earth.

This commercial used a propaganda, because it is trying to influence the way people think or do by showing the examples which are earth friendly actions and which are bad for the earth.

Why is it your favorite?

This is my favorite commercial, because this commercial is made in a positive way by trying have people fulfill the environmentally friendly actions which will make the earth cleaner. It’s good for everyone.

Why is it important to watch commercials carefully?

It is important to watch commercials carefully, because commercials are always trying you to do something which they want. So they usuallly use propaganda techniques to change your thinking into a positive way toward their product or things which they want you to do. But these will sometimes be only good for them and not you. For example, you might waste your money or time on something else instead of what is nessassary. So in order to prevent those, you should always think of your own opinions first before you listen to them or try to buy their products.

Click me to watch Janie’s Favorite Commercial! ♣♧♣♧