Why Propaganda?

Why does the Army of Toy Soldiers call their leaflets, posters and videos “Propaganda”? It sounds rather ominous.

You’re right, it does sound ominous. Nefarious even. But harmless in the case of the Toy Soldiers, because what our propaganda is saying is just to go out there, have some fun, be creative, and join the Army of Toy Soldiers. No pressure, no judgement, no guilt tripping.

But that’s not the main purpose of distributing leaflets with the soldier face, or sharing a weird Youtube video of a gas masked guy in kilt making a pledge. By stating from the onset that this is propaganda, your mind is set on guard, and you become very wary of any dubious messages hidden in the material given to you. You think carefully about what we’re saying, and then you think carefully that maybe we’re saying the reverse (don’t go to deep on this, hidden messages only work when they’re obvious).

So what’s the point of putting your brain in guard mode when looking at pretty pictures and videos that make you laugh?

Because now more than ever we HAVE to be on our guard. Propaganda is just another word for ‘public relations’, ‘marketing’ and ‘viral advertising’. They are instructions, orders, demands and threats, veiled in the glimmer of honest commercialism.

The hair product promising you great looking follicles, it’s also pushing onto you the fear of what others might say if you DON’T have great hair.

The phone giving you instant connectivity to the entire globe, excellent cell coverage even in the Himalaya’s, and the rugged durability of a Toyota Hilux being left in the ocean overnight. And if you don’t have that phone? You’re out of date, a Luddite, with no social life, and the Nokia brick from your childhood makes you seem out of touch with your friends.

Political parties are notorious for using these methods of coercing agreement from their target audience. If you don’t do this, you’re a traitor, and if you don’t agree with us on this, your family will be ridiculed by  your neighbours. Agree with that guy, and you’re a terrorist.

All of these methods share a common trait as well. Poor sources. They’ll say they got it from a research group, but a research group might be two people sat in an office watching lolcats. Truly independent research groups rarely return the information corporations want unless they’ve been heavily invested in. And even then, the information is taken out of context.