When Old School Propaganda Fails To Be As Effective

As brutal and corrupt as many governments can be nowadays, some are oblivious to the fact that the Web empowers the people beyond control. Dictators like Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, Teodoro Obiang of Equatorial Guinea, and Hosny Mubarak of Egypt might like to think that they rule with an iron fist that is virtually impossible to dismantle. While that is certainly close to the truth, little do they know that their technological incompetence and their underestimation of the power of the web is a potentially serious threat.

Egypt, for example, has opened up the press freedom over the past decade, which has encouraged a number of independent newspapers to take the stage. That, along with the exponential technological advancements that the world as a whole has experienced, has left the government thinking that perhaps it has bitten off more than it can chew. In the 80s, the three main papers were all governmental, and any story shared between the three, regardless of it authenticity, become true to the masses. Not only that, but propaganda posters and cartoons were highly effective.

Now the times are-a-changing.

After the horrific sectarian clashes in the south of Egypt, the entire Egyptian blogosphere was talking. Twitter was on fire. Facebook was flooded. And the blogs discussing the issue were scattered all over. That is when Al Ahram, Egypt’s main government-run newspaper, decided to weather the storm. Besides the fact that their website, when it actually works, looks like cow manure reshaped to fit within a computer screen, their approach was older than the president himself:

The ridiculous propaganda cartoon by Al Ahram

The “illustration”, which seems to have been scribbled and slapped together by a six year-old with mental illness, depicts the happy Egyptians together celebrating peace and prosperity. A Muslim coming out of a minaret shouts out simultaneously with his Christian counterpart standing on a church tower, “our shared enemy is the devil.” If that’s not enough, the “doves” in between are carrying hearts back and forth to imply unconditional love exchanged by all the peoples. The worst part of it all is that it’s not a joke – Al Ahram genuinely thought they would indirectly fool the crowds into believing that the all is well at the land of the Pyramids.

20 years ago, the cartoon could’ve stood a chance. Now, it could only make matters worse. The main reason being that with access to unlimited and uncensored information between the different people across space and time, old school propaganda has become ineffective. People no longer fall for the idealizing images of brutal dictators, nor photographs of happy citizens enjoying life. Not only does it need to be far more sophisticated, it also needs to be significantly more convincing. After all, there’s a lot of competition, and the web is anyone’s to create and share.

Dictators with over a quarter of a century under their belt might feel safe, but few have hopped on the fast-track trail of the internet and are therefore are not in as much control as they would like to think. For that reason, along with education, health care and infrastructure, internet access should be one of the aspects in the developement of over-exploited nations. Since effective communication is key to any change, the web is absolutely crucial in connecting the people and giving them the power they need to gain equality and justice.

The web has been, and will always be, power to the people – nothing can take that away from it.

Graphic Design in Political Propaganda

An interesting article by the Designer Daily revealed some of the artwork that was produced at the time of the Cold War to aid the propaganda of the US as well as the Soviet Union. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and at times of war, it is extremely important for governments to have strong visual campaigns to ensure the support of the public. The following is one of the most intruiging ones:

Jo Jo The Dove

This was a post created by Paix et Liberte (Peace and Liberty), which was a French anti-communist group from the times of the Cold War when the two schools of thought were battling it out. The idea is to depict Stalin as a fake who pretends like he is interested in peace, while he is actually looking to butcher the enemy and force his evil ways. It is safe to assume that today’s public are not as naive, and that it would be necessary to be a little more subtle about how “bad” the “baddies” are. But generally speaking, reading a pamphlet explaining the group’s manifesto would not have been anywhere as effective as a poster like this one.

On a design level, I personally think it would still compete with some of today’s products. With history repeating itself, there has been strong movements to go retro in the different areas of digital and print art. Add that to the relatively modern color scheme illustrated in the poster, and you can see how by changing the message, you can fit it right into today’s publications. It’s a true beauty and an inspiration to graphic designers, but hopefully not politicians!