LEAP 2 Essay- Harmful Propaganda — Rachael Cullen
Propaganda COM416- Professor RobbGrieco
March 28th, 2023
Essay:
While some propaganda can be encouraging, there is also some that can dangerous. Harmful propaganda like the one I am going to analyze and discuss today can be harmful and even deadly. Women are constantly comparing themselves to unrealistic standards that society is saying are the “perfect body” which causes women to take extreme measures that could hurt and even kill a person. It is important to bring this topic to people’s attention. This analysis is to inform and educate people not to feed into harmful propaganda campaigns like the one I chose, and to discuss my creative process and the challenges behind creating my screencast.
I chose to analyze Victoria’s Secret’s “Perfect Body” advertisement and to show how harmful propaganda like this can create negative body image comparisons which could be potentially deadly. People are faced with constantly getting bombarded with advertisements especially women, being targeted by advertisements to receive the brunt of this assault, when it comes to how they should look. Social media and other digital content are unfortunately shaping our concept of beauty these days. According to NCBI studies have found a correlation between the time spent on social media and a negative body image, and with constant exposure to images posted online, and is evident that there is a link to how individuals compare themselves and perceive their own bodies. (“PMC — NCBI.” National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine).
When creating my screencast, I wanted to select an array of images, some impactful and some light-hearted using some comedic flare. I figured using an assortment of images and videos that kept the viewers engaged and wanting to watch more was key. I started off by giving the viewer an overview of what propaganda is and when to recognize harmful propaganda and why it is everywhere. It’s everywhere because according to The Washington Post article- Propaganda is More Dangerous in The Digital Age it states “Today, propaganda posters have been replaced by digital visuals, such as the meme, that are easily produced, mass-disseminated, and politically pointed, with the potential to do even greater damage to society than propaganda posters did a century ago. Propaganda has been around since World War I and has increasingly grown and now everywhere we look. I selected this Victoria’s Secret ad to analyze because as a woman I am familiar with the stereotypical and superficial views that society has on how they think women should look. Society is creating these false narratives of what is considered “perfect”, and Victoria’s Secret being one of the largest retailers of lingerie in America, you would think they would know better than to create harmful propaganda like this. The slogan “The Perfect Body,” appears on an image on the company’s website of 10 extremely thin models in bras and panties. The models featured are stick thin, have no dimples, have perfect hair and skin, are mainly white women, and have absolutely no inclusivity. So once Victoria’s Secret received negative feedback they changed the slogan, “The Perfect Body,” to “A Body for Every Body.” This fueled my fire even more because all they did was change the wording; all of the models were the same. They have a platform to make an extremely impactful, positive message but they chose otherwise. Creating this analysis and screencast was enjoyable and challenging. I did have a hard time with the 4-minute restriction on the screencast, as I could have provided much more information. My biggest challenge was that I knew this campaign is mostly geared toward women, so why would men really care about reading this? Take a second and think about a moment in your life when you came across propaganda that made you feel less than, or insecure. I can guarantee you it’s happened to everyone at least once. So hopefully when reading this and viewing my screencast it will give you an “aha” moment.
So, yes there is harmful propaganda out there, and the more we understand harmful propaganda the easier we can identify it and ignore it. There is no such thing as a perfect body and my point in all of this is to argue this ad is dangerous and can have serious effects. We can do better as a society and create the positive change these kinds of ads need.
Work Cited:
1. Class Readings- Chapter 5-The Dark Side of Propaganda- Laws that regulate harmful speech or propaganda.
2. Hasic, Albinko. “Perspective | Why Propaganda Is More Dangerous in the Digital Age.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 12 Mar. 2019, https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/03/12/why-propaganda-is-more-dangerous-digital-age/.
3. “PMC — NCBI.” National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/.
YouTube Link to Screencast: https://youtu.be/v_hvBphcu-s
Script:
Title Slide 1- Thesis Statement
While some propaganda can be encouraging, there is also some that can dangerous. Harmful propaganda like the one I am going to analyze and discuss today can be harmful and even deadly. Women today are constantly bombarded with what society is saying is the “perfect body”. Constant comparison of oneself to unrealistic standards that society is saying is “perfect” can hurt and even kill a person, so it’s important to bring this topic to people’s attention. This analysis is to inform and educate people to not feed into harmful propaganda campaigns
Slide 2:
- In today’s society it is nearly impossible to avoid the influence of the media when it comes to propaganda. What is propaganda? Propaganda is created to convey messages about certain topics or issues and can be very persuasive. Propaganda has been around since World War I and has increasingly grown and now everywhere we look. Propaganda can be found all over social media, online videos, the news, newspapers, radio, billboards, blogs, etc. But no matter how propaganda is generated, it is used to get a point across, whether to influence or persuade a person.
Slide 4:
- What is harmful propaganda? People are faced with constantly getting bombarded with advertisements every day the messages which come with visual assault. Women, especially, are targeted by advertisements to receive the brunt of this assault when it comes to how they should look or what size they should be. Social media and other advertising campaigns are unfortunately shaping our concept of beauty these days. Today I will be analyzing Victoria’s Secret’s “Perfect Body” advertisement and how harmful propaganda like this can create negative body image comparisons and could potentially lead to death by eating disorders.
Slide 5:
- Take a look at this ad campaign from Victoria’s Secret. Would you view this as harmful propaganda? If you thought yes, you’re correct. The slogan appears on an image on the company’s website of 10 extremely thin models in bras and panties, with their ribs clearly visible and rail-thin legs. This type of harmful propaganda is self-destructive to women of all ages and ethnicities: Stick thin models, Rib cage exposed, Thin long legs, No dimples are cellulite, No love handles, Perfect hair and skin, Ethnicity: Mainly white women, and no inclusivity. Now, what message is this sending to people?
Slide 6:
- But don’t worry because Victoria’s Secret got so much negative feedback about how harmful that ad was, so they decided to fix it. See the change? Nope nor do I or anyone else viewing this. Victoria’s Secret had swapped its ad slogan, “The Perfect Body,” for one that is meant to be more palatable to non-supermodels: “A Body for Every Body.” But nothing else changed besides a few words.
Slide 7:
-Harmful propaganda like this is when people end up creating unrealistic ideals for themselves. Constant exposure to altered images can lead to unhealthy pressure to achieve unrealistic body types, which can result in body dysmorphic behaviors and even death. What are we doing to hold companies and people accountable for producing harmful propaganda like this ad?
Slide 8:
- In Chapter 5 of our readings we learned that we have laws that regulate harmful propaganda like the marketplace of ideas, which is regulated by the editorial decisions of publishers who use editorial judgment and take responsibility for the content of their publication by deciding what to include before publication. Social media platforms and the marketplace of ideas are handled by the platforms themselves to decide what to remove or restrict after being posted.
Conclusion slide 9: So yes, there is harmful propaganda out there. So, the more we understand harmful propaganda the easier we can identify it and ignore it. There is no such thing as a perfect body and my point in all of this is to argue this ad is dangerous and can have serious effects. Even more dangerous is the suggestion that buying Victoria’s Secret underwear can help achieve “the perfect body” is wildly false. So come on folks we can do better!
