Advertising is a Form of Propoganda

1. Propaganda is a term used to describe a way to openly and tendentiously manipulate the public opinion. It is mainly transmitted through the mass media, which in general can reach out to a large number of people in a short time. If you search up the term advertisement you will find that it usually means one of these things: a paid announcement, as of goods for sale, in newspapers or magazines, on radio or television, etc; a public notice or the action of making generally known; a calling to the attention of the public. Basically the main goal of advertising is convincing people that a thing is good or bad, regardless of whether it is a political decision, economic venture, social activity, religious measure, or etc. This position paper will try and justify the claim that advertising is a form of propaganda.

2. A lot of advertisements just like propaganda represents a form of lying which manipulates the public opinion. Advertisements try to pressure us as human beings to buy things we do not need or want. They create this illusion that our dreams will come true if and only if we use the products that are being advertised. These advertisements try to get the public to believe that if they want to achieve the good looks, intelligence, good friendships or happy family only money and the products in question can make those dreams come true. This is obviously false yet many advertisements still continue selling their products without warning people about the possible disappointments.

3. Majority of lies are for personal gain - to show themselves in a better light, to protect themselves, many also lie with the excuse not have hurt or saddened or in this case for profit. Most human beings today would do anything they can to earn mone...

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... achieve higher sales and better profit. Advertisements promote themselves through the media and try to get the public to believe in what it is actually representing and selling. This automatically falls under the definition of propaganda and which proves that advertisement is a form of it.

10. Every day we are bombarded with information and news, whether that information come naturally or through means of mass communication. There is an undoubted influence of the media on people’s picture of the world as well as in their everyday life. Propaganda itself does not have to be false. It is part of an agenda to persuade people to a point of view using any means that it can, one of them being advertisements. Now it is on us to wake up from this “nightmare” and finally start living our lives without looking through curtains in front of our eyes that propaganda created.