The Washington Post

Why propaganda is more dangerous in the

digital age
By Albinko Hasic
Albinko Hasic is a Bosnian American attorney, digital analyst and history PhD student whose
primary research interests are propaganda, military history and human rights. He is also the founder
of BosnianHistory.com.

March 12, 2019

James Montgomery Flagg's familiar Uncle Sam poster, used in World War I military recruiting, makes a revival
appearance near recruiting headquarters on E street in Washington in 1961. (Bob Schutz/AP)

On July 6, 1916, a poster depicting Uncle Sam beckoning viewers

to enlist in the U.S. Army appeared in an issue of Leslie’s Weekly,
a popular U.S. magazine. The poster’s creator, James Montgomery
Flagg, had no idea just how popular his creation would become.
Working without a model or concept in a narrow window of time
before publication, Flagg scrambled to embody the urgency of
American participation in the Great War.
Despite the rush, Flagg created a masterpiece. It would go on to be
reprinted more than 4 million times by 1918 and become a
permanent part of American culture. Even though propaganda
posters have been phased out in favor of more modern, effective
means of communication, the same psychological techniques of
manipulation that made Flagg’s masterpiece so effective continue
to pervade our society.
Today, propaganda posters have been replaced by digital visuals,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 American politics and society than propaganda posters
did a century ago.
Partially because of the popularity of Flagg’s Uncle Sam rendering,
posters quickly became a wildly popular medium for
disseminating information. They were relatively cheap to produce
and could be plastered just about everywhere, from post offices to
schools to sides of buildings. The government used emotional
imagery to draw thousands of volunteers to the armed services
and create broad support for the war effort at home. Officials
zeroed in on increasing morale, encouraging conservation,
reducing errors at work, promoting workplace safety and urging
viewers to buy U.S. bonds to help fund the war.
Flagg, a veteran artist and contributor to publications such as Life
magazine, ended up creating almost 50 designs on behalf of the
Committee on Public Information, the U.S. propaganda and
intelligence arm, by the end of World War I.
Flagg’s most iconic poster depicted the figure of a gallantly dressed
Uncle Sam with the prominent text, “I Want You for the U.S.
Army.” Flagg found inspiration in Alfred Leete’s image of Lord
Kitchener urging Brits to join the war cause. In an effort to save
money by not hiring a model, Flagg used his own face (adding a
goatee) to create Uncle Sam, a move later lauded by President
Franklin D. Roosevelt. While Uncle Sam dated to the War of 1812,
Flagg brought it to life, giving the character an air of purpose that
has itself become iconic.
The poster, officially adopted by the Army in 1917, became an
effective recruitment tool to swell the ranks of the military. It was
such a resounding success that it would be reprinted during World
War II and pops up again and again in popular culture today.
These results explain why the propaganda poster became so
popular with government officials: It was immensely effective. So
effective, in fact, that coinciding with the publication of the
original Kitchener recruitment poster in September 1914, the
British army saw the highest number of volunteers enlist for the
entire duration of the war. In the United States, striking visuals
and simple slogans drove home patriotic ideals and nostalgic
themes that stuck with people.
Many posters sought to tug at Americans’ heartstrings with
depictions of soldiers and their families, while others appealed to
the population’s sense of outrage by reminding viewers of the
brutality of the enemy. Some even aimed to generate a sense of
guilt. In one World War I poster, a man is playing with his
children as they ask him, “Daddy, what did YOU do during the
Great War?”
This messages reflected one element of why wartime posters were
so effective: In the words of William Bird and Harry Rubenstein,
propaganda posters were an “agent for making the war aims the
personal mission of every citizen.” The posters also capitalized on
the ability of psychological messages inherent in visual art to alter
the subconscious. Edward Bernays, called the “father of public
relations,” named his 1928 book “Propaganda,” arguing that
“engineering consent” through such means was vital for the
survival of democracy. The truth is, modern advertising owes
much of its existence to visual propaganda methods.
Posters remained a popular form of government communication
in the interwar years. For instance, public wellness programs used
posters to encourage exercise and conservation and promote
national parks.
The popularity and effectiveness of Flagg’s creation led the U.S.
military to bring back the poster format during World War II,
when some 200,000 designs were used. These posters featured
such iconic characters as Rosie the Riveter saying “We Can Do It,”
as well as others calling citizens to arms, reminding people about
conservation and recycling and fomenting political and societal
unity.
There was an occasional dark side to these posters as well: Many
expressed racist, xenophobic and bigoted messages in an effort to
demonize the enemy. While this was more common in countries
such as Nazi Germany, where Hitler’s brutal regime used
propaganda to demonize the Jewish population, American posters
were not above stereotypes and bigoted messages, sometimes
depicting foes as barbarian brutes with racist depictions of their
leaders.
Today, the poster has largely been relegated to college dorm rooms
and movie theaters. But many of the principles that were at play in
propaganda posters during World Wars I and II have evolved as
methods of manipulation. The digital age has ushered in a new
form of artistic expression: the meme.
While memes originally had a comedic purpose, they invaded the
political realm in a far more sinister manner during the 2016
presidential campaign. Like the propaganda posters from the
world wars, politically pointed memes employed a striking visual
coupled with effective communication intended to alter the mind
frame or subconscious of a viewer. In many cases, they also aimed
to dehumanize the opposition and to personalize the political
cause in question.
The alt-right in particular weaponized the meme format to spread
disinformation through social media. Members of the alt-right
turned characters such as Pepe the Frog into symbols for their
virulently racist movement, building awareness of and even
support for their cause. The meme propaganda came from foreign
sources, too, as reports of Russian bots spreading
disunity surfaced.
Most worryingly, the new political art format has far greater viral
potential than the posters of yesteryear. Instead of just
government-commissioned posters, any figure, domestic or
international, with a political agenda can reach a mass audience
with weaponized symbols, images and digital art to advance a
political cause.
Ultimately, propaganda posters can teach us a great deal about the
psychological effects of politically pointed art. While memes may
seem like the silly clutter of Internet culture, studies of advertising
and the way we consume information have shown that such
images can alter our subconscious, often in ways we do not
understand. Or as one Garfield meme put it, “You are not immune
to propaganda.” And the longevity of propaganda is readily
apparent — Flagg’s own creation of Uncle Sam pointing a finger at
us has long outlasted its original intent. In many ways, it has
become a staple of Americana.
The danger with memes is that the visuals are no longer centrally
orchestrated pieces, designed to advance the public good. They
spread in real time, seemingly from the depths of the Internet, and
virtually anybody can achieve virality through the power of mass
replication. Discerning facts from fiction has become the real
challenge with this latest incarnation of visual propaganda. Time
will tell if memes will become a permanent part of our political
history, but for now, we are still experiencing their unpredictable
effects.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/03/12/why-propaganda-
is-more-dangerous-digital-age/