Propaganda

Propaganda comes in many forms and is a tool used to spread information to large numbers of people. Graphic images are used to simplify a message for an audience and provide a quick, immediate impact. Often used in political arguments, it has come to have a negative connotation because the message is so simplified; many aspects of controversial or complicated ideas are left out. Additionally, the intent of many propaganda efforts is to scare people.

As early as the Middle Ages, the Church used drawings to scare people into giving money to the church. (Meggs p. 67, fig. 5-7) Many propaganda campaigns were used during WWI and WWII by all sides as a way to influence the population into behaving a certain way.

This poster tries to make young men think twice before sleeping around. The woman is young, beautiful and innocent looking, but cutting across into her body separating her from the three men is the slogan “She may look clean, but…” This poster provides a classic Adam and Eve conflict – men don’t be fooled by that pretty apple or we could lose the war.

Propaganda is often used in wartime messages, but I searched for something that seemed a little more innocuous. This image put out by the Centers for Disease Control is meant to promote vaccination of children. The happy, healthy, proud mother and daughter promote a positive message for vaccinations and the text encourages doctors to screen for vaccination at every opportunity. The sidebar lists all the times it is perfectly safe to vaccinate.

This second pro-vaccination poster is a little more haunting. You don’t have to speak Spanish to understand that if you don’t get your child vaccinated polio will devastate your child's life.

On the other hand, this final image compares vaccinations to something that can kill and goes on to list the deadly ingredients included in vaccines.

All of them have a simple message with images that help create impact. Not all sides of an issue can be summed up on a poster, but if you can consolidate a message into one image it can be very powerful and persuasive.