LEAP 2 Propaganda
Creating my screencast was an interesting process. I had to try and record it a dozen times, even though I had a complete script written out. I would say it came out feeling complete.
The screencast was mainly featuring one ad, which was the protein world ad that was body shaming propaganda. The screencast voice over described how the propaganda was harmful and how it discriminated against women of color and plus sized women. I explained the backlash from the ad, and how it reflects society’s attitudes at large.
The screencast also showed examples of backlash advertisements that promoted self love and body positivity. These were examples of beneficial propaganda that seeked to heal the wounds caused by this advertisement.
It was difficult to find a topic that wasn’t already chosen. People had good selections, ranging from “Tupac is alive” to “QAnon”. It is interesting what conspiracy theories people chose and how they fit into the larger theme of propaganda. Though most people chose conspiracy theories, there were really good examples of print ads, all of which were harmful or misleading.
I decided to pick a topic that wasn’t overly political, or so I thought. The truth is, this advertisement became very political, and I realized this the more research I did. Political leaders spoke out against this advertisement so much that it became banned.
Maybe banning this advertisement wasn’t the best idea because it may make people sympathetic towards it. However, not banning this ad will contribute to body shaming culture that sets very unrealistic beauty standards for women.
It was interesting to read about different women’s reactions to this advertisement. Some were okay with it while others were very offended by it and thought the ad went way too far and went against their values. One thing was clear, people generally had stronger reactions to it, and maybe the ad was designed like this on purpose.
In my screencast I tried to contrast this ad with other positive ads and forms of positive propaganda. There were a lot of positive messages that came out of this controversy, and I don’t think that Protein World could have imagined the ripples that this advertisement would cause. I showed an advertisement by SimplyBe, a company that wanted to promote body positivity. This company offers clothing designed for plus sized people, and it fights against unrealistic beauty standards. The company shows diverse models and promotes diversity at large. The reaction to the original ad was so strong, it made SimplyBe shine and reflected their values on an international level.
SimplyBe wasn’t the only company to push back against Protein World’s ad, but it was the most successful in doing so. It was the polar opposite of the harmful propaganda by Protein World, and that was the reason it was so successful. Though not everyone had a super negative reaction to Protein World’s ad, the ones that did were the most vocal.
This is often the case with propaganda, and it is often the case that the minority controls the narrative adopted by the majority. Seeing this whole controversy unfold and reading about it taught me a lot about propaganda and about backlash. Mainly, the backlash to propaganda can be more impactful than the propaganda itself. Overall, I enormously enjoyed making the screencast and reading about this controversy.
Works Cited
Hackman, Rose. “Are You Beach Body Ready? Controversial Weight Loss Ad Sparks Varied Reactions.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 27 June 2015, www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jun/27/beach-body-ready-america-weight-loss-ad-instagram.
