How Does Media and Propaganda Manipulate Culture?

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Propaganda and Culture

The mass media and propaganda manipulate culture by influencing people through psychological, emotional, and physical means. Propaganda is when information is used to promote people to think one way or another. Media and advertisement could be considered to be propaganda in the way that it is used. The government also uses propaganda too. They can encourage certain things through the media.

Throughout history, different forms of control were used. There was brainwashing in China. Propaganda was evident in the Soviet Union. During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union both used propaganda to persuade the citizens of each country that the other country is the enemy. They used the fear of nuclear weapons to scare people into thinking the way the government wanted; believing the other country was evil. In the present, mass media is the source of propaganda.

Companies and corporations research and investigate the human mind and what makes people tick. They exploit people’s insecurities so they can sell products. The way advertisements are used to sell things create a sense of what a perfect person in culture is. The products they would buy and use would define the ideal person. People would follow the described characterization by buying the brands. Commercials and advertisements some how sway people and influence their decisions.

Everybody sees many advertisements every day. Because so many people see the ads, people feel they have to listen to them. The way people are portrayed in commercials gives people an idea on what they should be. The ways ads describe the perfect person in an ideal life make people feel self conscious about themselves. Ad companies then take advantage of these insecurities. On the shampoo commercials, shampoo makes girls pretty and have a happy life. Without that brand girls can’t get glamorous hair. If they don’t have nice hair, they won’t have friends and then wouldn’t be happy.

News reporters physically tell and show people what is going on in the world. We can’t be sure that what they tell us is true though. What they report is considered news to people no matter what it is. The statuses and actions of celebrities are centered in news a lot of times and people consider this news. What one famous person does should not be more important than domestic or world news. Posters and billboards are also a part of the mass media and propaganda. During the Cold War, posters were displayed in support for the war and against the Soviet Union. Seeing and hearing the same thing over and over again would cause the idea to stick.

Propaganda and media convince people to do things mentally and maybe sublimely. Advertisements convince people to buy products. They play with people’s feelings and prey on their lack of confidence in themselves. Branding causes people to buy sometimes expensive and unnecessary products. There are different reasons for propaganda. In the Cold War, people were controlled by propaganda in the form of fear. Currently through media and technology, advertisements have been used as propaganda.