When we think of propaganda, I think what comes to mind is evil dictatorships and political corruption. Kim Jong Un, WW2, Hitller, Vladimir Putin. But in reality, propaganda is something that is everywhere, and it’s not necessarily evil, I mean sometimes it is but not all the time. Propaganda is notoriously used as a tactic against opposing groups but is also used to spread kindness and hope. Propaganda is used as a way to sort of “nudge” the viewer’s views on a certain topic, to think for them. Perhaps it uses some negative statistic about a group, it gets very toxic. 

A really famous poster that is technically propaganda is Obama’s campaign poster of him in red white and blue with the word “HOPE” in big bold letters below. It’s very nice to look at. The image itself uses patriotic feel good imagery to get the audience to associate the image with the candidate. “HOPE” is a clever and simple message that works nicely. 

The second piece of propaganda comes from Nike. It’s a picture of a young chubby little boy profusely sweating while on a run. In the middle of the image, it reads “Find your greatness” with the Nike slogan below. The image evokes feelings of self improvement. I think to myself, “If he can do it then so can I”. The word greatness, the Nike slogan and this picture of this young kid striving to make improvements for his health all tie together as the viewer associates these things with Nike. 

The Nike one definitely affected me when I first saw it some years ago. It was so simple, yet left an impression on me.