Valentine Bonnaire

Yesterday, we looked at some examples of propaganda posters used by political regimes to gain control of the proletariat masses. Today, we will explore a little about “agitprop” and some more on Fascism. Gee, how come you are writing about this, you ask?

Because I can see it happening before my eyes and the mainstream press isn’t unpacking it.

In this blog, we will. And, personally I’d rather be writing a short story right now, or gardening, or making a painting. Except, I’m an American. Being an American is very important to me, because of what that means, not just here, but around the world, in terms of “freedom.” Although I’m not a political scholar, I’m a thinker. Damn. Feminism allowed me that. It’s because of feminism that I got my Master’s Degree. So if I see some ugly effing sh*t start happening here, in my own country it’s my duty as an American Feminist to speak out. Also, thank you WordPress, and thank you Google, for making the documentation easier.

Alrighty, here we go with more….

We left off yesterday by looking at two political propaganda posters. One was Che, and the other was Mao. I’m looking at the graphics used by the Obama campaign very, very seriously, because of some things I think Axelrod purposely engineered using his concept of “target-marketing,” “astroturfing,” and branding, as well as subliminals.

What Axelrod has done is create a snowball, and now that snowball has gained mass momentum. So much momentum that it is rapidly rolling (read Alinsky model) into a dangerous, dangerous political place. It seems that he wanted to create dissent on purpose with this scheme. Crafty no? Somebody else did this once a long time ago. His name was Goebbels. Like Axelrod, he was VERY good when it came to propaganda. He was also dangerous, just as Axelrod is dangerous right now, to all of the people in America. Because we are watching history repeat itself. Right now.

You can read about Goebbels’ principles of propaganda here, from “Psywarrior.com”

And then, you can read an early article about how Axelrod championed certain advertising techniques here, as well as see his picture circa 1993, in an article by David Sevener called “Political pitchman.”

Still with me? Good. It may seem like a stretch to you, but hang loose because we are exploring the principles of using propaganda in a marketing campaign. In 2008. For the American Presidency, this time around. Now, since Obama, Axelrod and I all come from the same part of the Baby-Boom, within a sprinkling of years from each other — I’m going to assume that we know the same things about how our generation experienced the world. Sort of. I’m going to assume that we all know the same things about historic figures, and World History. And advertising, and (at least in the case of Axelrod and I), newspapers.

So, let’s take a look at what Axelrod had to say about marketing back in 1993. Puppy Chow as “branding?”

“…Actually, David Axelrod is a political consultant, a nineties brand of precinct captain who has helped transform American politics by marketing candidates on a scale Stanley Nason must never have imagined possible. If the precinct captains of the 1960s employed a brand of door-to-door, one-on-one retail politics, Axelrod deals in wholesale politics on a mega-level, selling his candidates to millions of voters the way Ralston-Purina sells Puppy Chow.

Some view this development as the ruin of democracy. “You’re suspect as a political consultant,” Axelrod concedes. “The image is of someone who will do anything to get a candidate elected…”

Now, Goebbels was a master at inciting things — as a propaganda master, too. Let’s see what he did, and contrast that with what we see happening right now as regards the Black community and Jeremiah Wright’s outbursts…(this below from the Wiki) It’s the tactics a “propagandist” uses we are interested in exploring. Here is what he did:

“…He openly acknowledged that he was exploiting the lowest instincts of the German people–racism, xenophobia, class envy and insecurity. He could, he said, play the popular will like a piano, leading the masses wherever he wanted them to go. “He drove his listeners into ecstasy, making them stand up, sing songs, raise their arms, repeat oaths—and he did it, not through the passionate inspiration of the moment, but as the result of sober psychological calculation…”^[24]

So, just like back then, were seeing Axelrod whip these same things into action, again, as a result of his tactics. He has stirred up an angry America, until the pot is about ready to boil over. Hasn’t he? I think America is pretty shocked right now, myself. At what is being revealed on a daily basis. We’ve seen this incredible phenomenon occur, that people have been labeling “Obamabots.” And we are also seeing a scapegoat emerge, as well. Aren’t we?

Now, are we going to call this Communism, Totalitarianism, Dictatorship, Fascism or some other name this time around? Messiahism? Are we witnessing the end of Democracy come to pass here? What Axelrod has done is incite the masses. What we are interested in is how this is going to play out…

So, let’s take a look at more propaganda posters of the past, and watch what is being played out as a revolt against that, in America.

We talked a little about Fonts. Fonts are VERY important in advertising because they convey a message. Making the choice of the font for the ad is one of the biggest parts of the design process. The font helps set the tone for the “message.” Look at this poster, below…(to be continued) Using a blocky sans-serif font conveys a particular message in this propaganda piece…where are you seeing this font in contemporary political propaganda?