Propaganda is a highly biased form of persuasion and can be channeled through various communication media such as films, leaflets, radio broadcasts and posters.
Propaganda is a highly biased form of persuasion, often political in nature, that can be channeled through various communication media such as films, leaflets, radio broadcasts and posters. The main aim of propaganda is to manipulate perceptions through appeals to the viewer's emotions, rather than his rationality, for the benefit of the message's creators.
Enlistment
Ever since the First World War, countries around the world have used propaganda posters as a way to entice new men into joining the military. In countries such as Britain and the United States where enlisting in the military was optional at the start of WWI, propaganda posters evoked patriotism, duty and bravery. The character "Uncle Sam," a literal representation of American justice and freedom with a star-spangled hat, pointed straight at the viewer of the poster and declared, "I want YOU for the U.S. Army."
Dehumanizing the Enemy
Another element of propaganda posters is the portrayal of the enemy as an inhuman creature. By dehumanizing the opposition, early propaganda posters encouraged men to join the military as a way to defeat an evil creature, as opposed to a human being. American posters in WWII showed the Japanese as primates with sharp fangs and rats. Nazis were portrayed by the Allies as snakes, buzzards, gorillas or other deadly, undesirable creatures.
Trimming Down and Efficiency
Posters during World War II with slogans such as "Save a loaf of bread, help end the war" and "Waste helps the enemy, conserve materials" were common in the United States. Many of these propaganda posters were targeted at women and children -- people who were forced to stay in America while soldiers fought overseas. Another famous poster depicts a man driving alone in a car with a ghostly image of Hitler in the passenger seat with the message written below, "When you ride alone, you ride with Hitler." These posters brought the war home to people in the United States, and encouraged a collective "tightening of the belt" in cutting down on food, oil, and material consumption as a way to contribute to the cause.
War Bonds
War bonds, or sometimes called "victory bonds," were often promoted by propaganda posters. In the same way that "trimming down" posters brought the war home, so did war bonds posters. One poster depicts two hands full of silver dollars being dumped into a pile, where they are transformed into bullets with the slogan "turn your silver into bullets" written below. Buying war bonds was shown as a direct way to win the war and (as one poster put it) "hasten the homecoming" of Americans fighting abroad.
