Propaganda, as defined by Oxford Languages, means “information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote a political cause or point of view.” Starting in the early 20th century, propaganda was usually seen as a very manipulative approach, often using loaded language to provoke irrational responses and selectively presenting information to better promote a certain ideology.
The main examples of propaganda I would like to look at are those based around the First and Second World Wars because that is the time in which events of the stories I am researching take place. Famous pieces of propaganda from around this time include:
![When you ride ALONE you ride with Hitler!](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda#/media/File:"WHEN_YOU_RIDE_ALONE_YOU_RIDE_WITH_HITLER"._"JOIN_A_CAR-SHARING_CLUB_TODAY"._-_NARA_-_516143.jpg){kind=link}
I will be looking at all these images and analysing them to see how they were used effectively and ways I can use similar techniques in my own work.
Lord Kitchener Wants You
This image was created in 1914 at the beginning of the Great War. It was created as an advertisement by Alfred Leete which was later developed into a recruitment poster. This is one of the most famous uses of propaganda and was the basis for other famous propaganda, such as the Uncle Sam poster created 3 years later. It features Lord Herbert Kitchener, the British Secretary of State for War from 1914 to his death in 1916 from a sunken ship due to a German explosive off the shores of Scotland. This image also has various calls to action, such as “Join your country’s army!” and “Wants You” to create emphasis. The simplistic imagery with the bold word created a very simple yet iconic image that is very widely recognised as one of the most famous uses of propaganda. This simplistic style could be very good for use in my photoshoot for propaganda because it creates a very simple directive for what the viewer should do. It is not overwhelming or overdone, it is a simple call to action while still being very direct and encouraging.
When you ride ALONE you ride with Hitler!
This is a poster designed to assist with the campaign to reserve as many resources as possible. Around World War Two, there were various efforts made by the American federal government to reduce the number of resources being used. It came out in 1943 as the Americans didn’t know how much longer the war would be going on for. This is made to incentivise the American people to carpool to save resources, specifically conserving rubber on the home front after the Japanese military cut off access to rubber plantations in southeast Asia. The reasoning behind the poster plays in to this because the solution the Americans thought of was gasoline rationing because it would inherently lead to less usage of cars so the rubber would last longer. This is trying to say that by riding alone and using your car, you will be wearing it down more which means you are helping Hitler in the war. The text is direct and shocking, leaning heavily into the logical fallacy of reductio ad absurdum, meaning “reduction to absurdity.” This happens when an idea is stretched to its most extreme, which is apparent here by saying that not sharing a car is equivalent to helping Hitler.
Uncle Sam
This image shows Uncle Sam, a national personification of the Government of the United States. He is most commonly associated with the idea of freedom and patriotism. The poster shown here was created in 1917 by James Montgomery Flagg, an American artist, comics artist and illustrator. His name is seen signed above the word “YOU” in the quote below. The poster was made with inspiration from the original British Lord Kitchener poster shown in the first example. The image features Uncle Sam pointing directly at the viewer, mirroring the direct and encouraging themes from the previous poster. This is also mirrored to a further extent with the wording, using the phrase “I WANT YOU FOR U.S. ARMY”. The use of the word “I” makes the interaction seem more personal than the previous one, acting as if Uncle Sam is directly addressing the viewer.
Conclusion
Overall, these posters are very interesting and the methods they use to draw people in work very well. I am thinking of doing the drinks idea but somehow combining a method of propaganda into the image, perhaps with a poster in the background. This could create some interesting effects with the final piece.