So propaganda......that is deceptive or distorted information that is systematically spread. Okay so basically it's when you know something is bad or misleading, but you market it in such a positive way that people fail to see the harm in the product.
I think a great example of this in 2011 would be cigarettes. The funny thing about cigarettes is, not only do the marketers know that they are bad for your health, but everyone in society knows. Yet, even though the health hazards are known, smokers continue to buy them.
Before the risks were well-known, many people bought cigarettes. By the time the knowledge of the hazards spread around, many people could not quit. They were addicted and once they got sucked into the world of cigarettes, the propaganda for other cigarette brands was everywhere.
Commercials are propaganda. The average person watches television so many hours a day, seeing hundreds of commercials a week. The strategy of a company is to show the positive perks of a product and either exclude the negative altogether, or put it in size two font on the bottom of the screen where nobody can read it. They emphasize the products good qualities and effects, why you should buy it, and how much better it is than other leading brands, not to mention the cheap price.
We live in a world of propaganda and I believe that we can deal with it. We can just slow down, and not be so quick to assume we're being told the entire story. We should not rely on commercials for our information. And before we actually buy something, we should know *what* we're buying.
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