Name the Propaganda

Here are three videos featuring three propaganda techniques. Can you name them?

1. “Yes We Can” Music Video

2. Vote Different

3. Dear Mr. Obama

Can you match the video with the propaganda technique? Each video uses one of these techniques. Choose which name goes with each video.
a. Appeal to Fear
b. Appeal to Pity
c. Transfer

Post your answers in the comments below. We will randomly choose a winner from among the correct answers. The winner will recieve a signed copy of The Fallacy Detective!

To learn more about fallacies and propaganda techniques, visit
http://www.fallacydetective.com/articles/read/short-list-of-fallacies/

 

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1 • Stephaney Roberson • October 31, 2008 • 12:03 AM

1.The “Yes We Can” music video is
C. = Transfer
2.The Vote Different is A. = Appeal to Fear
3. The Dear Mr. Obama is B. = Appeal to Pity

2 • Maryalice Newborn • October 31, 2008 • 12:09 AM

1. c Transfer
However, I believe that it could also be Bandwagon (all those people saying “Yes, we can.”) and Repetition.
2. a. Appeal to Fear
3. b. Appeal to Pity

3 • Connie Keen • October 31, 2008 • 12:27 AM

1. c.
2. a.
3. b.


Whoa!  I don’t watch T.V. much (or youtube, either).  Surprising what’s been going on.

Thanks.

4 • Sally Johnson • October 31, 2008 • 12:30 AM

Appeal to fear is used in video #2.
Appeal to pity is used in video #3.
Transfer is used in video #1.

Thanks for entering me—I hope I win!  The chances are good right now, lol.
Sally

5 • Vivienne • October 31, 2008 • 1:48 AM

1. c
2. a
3. b

6 • Jovan • October 31, 2008 • 2:23 AM

1. Appeal to Pity
2. Appeal to Fear
3. Transfer

7 • Stephanie Hansen • October 31, 2008 • 2:44 AM

My guess is:

#1 transfer

#2 appeal to fear

#3 appeal to pity

8 • Patricia Berry • October 31, 2008 • 7:48 AM

1. “Yes We Can” Music Video c: Transfer


2. Vote Different   a: Appeal to Fear

3. Dear Mr. Obama b: Appeal to Pity

9 • Connie Corbin • October 31, 2008 • 8:16 AM

1. “Yes We Can” video is transfer
2. “Hilary Clinton” video is appeal to fear
3. “Soldier video” is appeal to pity

10 • Robyn • October 31, 2008 • 8:43 AM

1. Transfer

2. Appeal to fear

3. Appeal to Pity

Thanks!

11 • Caleb • October 31, 2008 • 8:53 AM

1.  Transfer
2.  Appeal to Fear
3.  Appeal to Pity

Although, I did think that 1 and 3 could be reversed.

12 • KelleyBee • October 31, 2008 • 8:56 AM

#1 Transfer
#2 Appealing to fear
#3 Appealing to pity

13 • Jeannon Kralj • October 31, 2008 • 9:12 AM

1.  Transfer

Our personal character and values are just as great as, and transferred to or associated with,  all those famous muscians and singers, and their song lyrics if we vote for Obama.

2.  Appeal to fear.

This video shows flashes of what appear to by our soldiers in some kind of prisoner of war prison camp, and also a policeman in miltary or “SWAT team” gear (face mask), and that martial law, police state scenario appears to be something that is taking place on the streets of the USA, so if we don’t vote for Hillary, we might meet that awful fate - prison camps, martial law in USA.

3.  Appeal to pity.

If you have pity for the poor sacrificing people of Iraq, and the poor courageous fireman who put their lives on the line every day, and the poor child or children or person who gets saved from death by the firemen, they you have to vote for McCain, because McCain is the only one who cares and has concern and compassion and pity on these people.

14 • Amy Padgett • October 31, 2008 • 9:28 AM

video 1 transfer-c
video 2 appeal to fear-a
video 3 appeal to pity-b

15 • Patricia Berry • October 31, 2008 • 9:50 AM

1. “Yes We Can” Music Video   c: Transfer

2. Vote Different   a: Appeal to Fear

3. Dear Mr. Obama b: Appeal to Pity


(If you’ve received this already, please disregard this one. I tried to send it earlier, but as far as I can tell there was an error message from your site and it didn’t go. Sorry if I’m mistaken and this was already sent.)

16 • Michelle Leichty • October 31, 2008 • 10:29 AM

#1 is transfer
#2 is appeal to fear
#3 is appeal to pity

Thanks!
Michelle

17 • Justyna Chwalek • October 31, 2008 • 10:34 AM

Video #1-Transfer

Video #2-Appeal to fear

Video #3-Appeal to pity

18 • David • October 31, 2008 • 10:48 AM

Yes We Can: transfer
Vote Different: appeal to fear
Dear Mr. Obama: appeal to pity

19 • Kathi Eames • October 31, 2008 • 10:48 AM

One: Transfer
Two: Fear
Three: Pity

20 • Jasmin Salvador • October 31, 2008 • 10:56 AM

Video #2 a)appeal to fear
video #3 b)appeal to pity
video #1 c)transfer

21 • Hudson Nyhart • October 31, 2008 • 11:07 AM

I choose: 
#1 transfer
#2 appeal to fear
#3 appeal to pity

22 • Kimm • October 31, 2008 • 11:09 AM

a. transfer
b. appeal to fear
c. appeal to pity

23 • Jacob Steeg • October 31, 2008 • 11:36 AM

1.yes we can
Transfer

2.vote different
Appeal to fear

3.dear Mr. Obama
Appeal to pity

24 • colton • October 31, 2008 • 11:57 AM

#1 Transfer
#2 Appeal to fear
#3 Appeal to pity

25 • Colton • October 31, 2008 • 12:07 PM

1. transfer
2. fear
3. pity

26 • Carmen Patterson • October 31, 2008 • 12:42 PM

#1 transfer
#2 appeal to fear
#3 appeal to pity (with a little transfer mixed in there with the patriotic music)

We didn’t see ANY facts about what the candidates actually stand for…thanks for helping to open our eyes to the manipulation of our emotions!

27 • Kate Schrampfer • October 31, 2008 • 1:09 PM

1. c. (transfer)
2. b. (appeal to fear)
3. a. (appeal to pity)

28 • Daniel and Elizabeth • October 31, 2008 • 1:35 PM

We think that #1 is transfer and #2 is appeal to fear.  We could not get #3 to work, but by elimination, #3 must be appeal to pity.

We already own The Fallacy Detective, so we do not need another copy.  Thanks anyway.

29 • ATJboys • October 31, 2008 • 2:51 PM

Our guess is:

#1 appeal to pity
#2 appeal to fear
#3 transfer

30 • Vikki Lemmon • October 31, 2008 • 7:21 PM

1. transfer
2. fear
3. pity
Thanks for the fun!  I don’t watch tv either, so this was enlightening.

31 • Beatriz Negron • October 31, 2008 • 7:34 PM

1. c
2. a
3. b

32 • Gretchen Barlow • November 01, 2008 • 12:36 AM

1-c
2-a
3-b

33 • Kevin Hopkins • November 01, 2008 • 3:24 PM

We believe you’re looking for:
1. transfer
2. appeal to fear
3. appeal to pity

However, the first video is not true transfer, but incorporates elements of bandwagon and repetition fallacies as well.  There is less of an appeal to transfer my good feelings because there is no SUBSTANCE to this video to invoke good feelings.  I’m simply supposed to respond emotionally to the idea of “YES WE CAN!”

The second video is clearly attempting to invoke fear.  Hillary Clinton is on the screen, for crying out loud!!

The third video, however; does not seem to be an appeal to pity as it contains substance. Fallacies lack substance.  We are not asked to pity the Iraqis, or the fireman.  The veteran making the video does not ask us to pity him.  His loss of a limb serves to lend credibility to his standing to speak against someone in whom he finds a deficiency of knowledge about sacrifice.  The fireman doesn’t need or deserve pity…he’s doing what he feels called to do in rescuing someone from a fire.  The Iraqis don’t need or deserve pity, they need vigilance and support until they have a democratic government.  There is no specific appeal to pity in this video.  If there were, the young man would say, “In order for all the sacrifices of the people who’ve lost limbs or lives to matter, you MUST vote for McCain.”  There is a subtle difference. But in that difference lies the distinction between fallacy and substance.

34 • Jessica • November 02, 2008 • 11:31 PM

1. c
2. a
3. b

Do you have anything harder?

35 • Tiffany Carson • November 04, 2008 • 12:49 AM

Video 1: c. Transfer
Video 2: a. Appeal to Fear
Video 3: b. Appeal to Pity

36 • Lynn Reif • November 04, 2008 • 8:57 AM

1. c
2. a
3. b

37 • Nathan Hancock • November 04, 2008 • 12:11 PM

My answers would be:
“Yes We Can”—transfer, although it really uses repetition
“Vote Different”—appeal to fear
“Dear Mr. Obama”—appeal to pity

38 • Michael • November 04, 2008 • 12:23 PM

Video 1.  Transfer of Leadership
Video 2. Appeals to Fear
Video 3.  Appeal to Patriotism not pity.  He fought for Freedom by his own choice.

39 • Ashley Roberts • November 05, 2008 • 9:18 AM

video #1 = c
video #2 = a
video #3 = b

40 • Laurie Bluedorn • November 05, 2008 • 4:09 PM

We’re going to give away two books—one to Jeannon Kralj and one to Kevin Hopkins. Send us your address and we’ll mail you a book.

Thanks to all who entered this contest.

41 • Elizabeth • November 07, 2008 • 11:48 AM

I don’t watch TV anymore and never saw these campaign videos prior to today. 

I would guess (have not been schooled in detecting fallacies and will probably buy the book anway!) but here is my guess—

#1 video is the transfer technique (Obama represents change).
#2 is the fear technique (vote for Obama or “Big Brother” (“Big Sister”) will be watching you).
#3 is the pity technique (didn’t download all the way but I heard some words like “sacrifice,” “purpose,” “hope,” etc. and how the Iraqi people are just like us so saying the war in Iraq is disrepectful, and that John McCain would NEVER say that because he is a fellow veteran so we should vote for him.

I will get a copy of the “The Fallacy Detective” one way or the other (Lord willing).  My children (and I) need to understand PROPAGANDA in all its forms.

Thank you,
Elizabeth

42 • Jeannon Kralj • November 09, 2008 • 11:26 AM

Propaganda has been an offical part of U.S. governement since the early 1900s.  There was a man named Creel and his second-in-command, Edward Bernays, nephew of Sigmund Freud.  They rand something for the government called the CPI, something like Commission on Public Information.

Propaganda is simply manipulation of human beings through many sophisticated, and not so soophisticated forms of lying.

Propaganda is deception and lying and is deliberate.  It often causes ordinary people to heartily support unjust wars and therefore the death of hundreds of thousands of innocent human beings.  So in a very real sense, propaganda is mass murder.

43 • Stephanie • November 10, 2008 • 12:20 AM

It seems to me quite a stretch of the imagination to conclude “propaganda is mass murder”.

Propaganda appeals to our emotions rather than our intellect but it is not responsible for what we do based on that appeal.

Equating propaganda to mass murder with undefined terms such as: “ordinary people”, “unjust wars”, and “innocent human beings” seems to me to be a fallacy in itself.

44 • nbluedorn • November 10, 2008 • 11:39 AM

We can summarize Jeannon Kralj’s argument as: (1) The US Government had a department in the early 1900s called CPI that used propaganda, (2) Propaganda is lying, and (3) Some propaganda contributes to mass murder, therefore all propaganda contributes to mass murder.

1. This is just some historical info.

2. Propaganda manipulates our emotions, but it does not always involve lies.

3. This is a hasty generalization. Some propaganda involves getting us to buy more soap or feel sorry for polar bears. Not all propaganda contributes towards mass murder in the way that Nazi propaganda did in the 1930s.

45 • Jeannon Kralj • November 10, 2008 • 11:57 AM

Propaganda is lying, often of the most heinous insideous kind of lying. As a Christian, I am commanded to be not deceived.  It is my duty to learn and prove and pray in order to be not deceived.

Our weakness as human beings is capitalized upon by the propagandists.  People do not avail themselves of the help that God offers to them and they become tools of the propagandists.  Instead of faith, fear rules their “intellect”. People become the propagandists’ weapons that kill.  One of the main goals of propaganda is often the unjust killing of large numbers of people.  Propaganda is a very effective tool to facilitate this killing and it will continue to be used in ever more successful ways.

People really do not have an “intellect” unless their thoughts are taken captive to Christ.  Then and only then can people not be deceived and used by the false philosophies of this world.

Worldly understandings and classifications such as “logical fallacies” and our intellect and our personal responsiblity and actions are quite limited and do not approach understanding of God’s wisdom or the Truth Who is Christ, the only real protection from propaganda.

In a very real way, all the forms of “untruth” in our human experience work only to kill and destroy, so I do not think it a “logical fallacy” to draw a straight-line connection between “propaganda” and “mass murder.”

46 • Jeannon Kralj • November 10, 2008 • 12:03 PM

“Propaganda manipulates our emotions, but it does not always involve lies”

When words are used to “manipulate” or control another human being, that is a form of lying.

Dialectical materialism and the Hegelian dialectic and many NAZI philosophies are all based on manipulating people’s minds and controlling their perception of “reality” or truth.

As stated in my earlier post, lying and truth are concepts that Jesus in the bible was uncompromising about.  Jesus would never employ terms like “hasty generalization”.  As a Christian, I pray to speak the truth in love more and more each day.

47 • Kevin Hopkins • November 12, 2008 • 9:23 PM

Hey Bluedons!

Thank you!  My 16- and 12-year-old daughters and I had a great time with the Fallacy Detective game!  We went on and did many of the exercises on your website as well, and have had several hours of fun and great discussion!  We would like The Thinking Toolbox, if you please?  The girls looked at the samples and are excited about learning more about the critical thinking process!  Thanks for your great website and this wonderful gift!

48 • Luke Johnson • April 06, 2011 • 10:05 AM

1. Transfer
2. Pity
3. Fear

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