Card Stacking Propaganda Definition: Card Stacking is a strategy of persuasion that attempts to influence viewpoint through purposeful distortions, as in suppressing information, overemphasizing picked truths, controlling data, and pricing estimate rigged or doubtful research studies. In this article, we’ll further read about card stacking examples.
To get a much better understanding of this topic, we shall break it up into simple terms. Card Stacking suggests stacking or hoarding enough of an item’s favourable elements, qualities, and benefits that they successfully trick the client into overlooking its unfavourable aspects. The term “card stacking” signifies those accomplished card gamers who manage to stack the deck of cards in their favour even while shuffling the cards.
Propaganda can be defined as promoting misinforming details or a biased perspective to support a particular political view or cause. Businesses use different advertising propaganda to affect prospective consumers and boost their sales.
To recognize card stacking propaganda and differentiate it from other selling propaganda, we must understand the techniques being used by advertisers.
11 Types of Propagandas
Testimonial
This form of propaganda uses widely known or reputable figures to influence the target audience.
In the 1980s, the folks over at Texas Department of Transportation invested about $20 million on tidying up litter on highways.
Their pleas to the people for keeping the streets tidy revealed no enhancement. They then worked with Mike Blair and Tim McClure of GSD&M to develop a project to turn things around.
And that’s how the Don’t tinker Texas tradition started.
The campaign, featuring state heroes, resonated so well with the target audience that littering went down roughly 72% between 1987 and 1990
Stereotyping
This propaganda method highlights stereotypes and then either strengthens or shatters them with the message in the ad.
Always’ Like a Girl ad fits into this classification of propaganda advertisement and brings favourable connotations.
Fear appeals
The plan behind these kinds of propaganda ads and messages is to scare individuals into taking the preferred action.
PSAs often use this technique, and Embrace Life’s video is another example of a propaganda backed with excellent intentions.
Bandwagon
The bandwagon phenomenon develops a sense of isolation. It sets off FOMO (worry of losing out) in specific people who long to be part of some desirable group.
Fyre Festival’s marketing project shows this technique in action. Billy McFarland, the celebration’s creator, got celebrities like Kendall Jenner, Bella Hadid, and Hailey Baldwin to promote the occasion.
Although marketed as a unique extravaganza, it was a complete farce.
Plain folks
In some cases, seeing regular individuals back a service or product primes potential customers to try it out because they can see it fit into their everyday lives, too. This is the basic idea behind the simple folk propaganda method.
Nutella’s commercial falls into this category and eventually brought in criticism. The brand was demanded, marketing itself as a “breakfast food” when it is, in all honesty, simply a dessert in a container.
Transfer propaganda technique
The agenda behind this tactic is to irrationally connect the audience’s positive associations to an unrelated principle.
Transfer propaganda counts on symbolism to press its target market to make illogical connections.
Edward Bernays’ Torches of Freedom campaign is a prime example of this concept in action.
Name-calling
Name-calling propaganda is based upon putting the other celebration down. Using this technique in advertising generally starts brand wars. It can be light-hearted, however often, the animosity can get intense.
Card stacking
Card stacking propaganda presents selective details to paint an incomplete and incorrect story to influence people. Companies that partake in greenwashing use this tactic, and H&M is often slammed for it.
Glittering generalities
Glittering generalities uses crammed words and strong mottos to affect the audience receiving the message.
In marketing, this plays a massive function in brand name positioning. Prominent cars and truck brands like Jaguar and Mercedes-Benz typically utilize this technique in their advertisements.
Ad nauseam propaganda
This type of propaganda depends on the power of repeating. Ad nauseam marketing projects target the market at a very high frequency to stay leading of mind.
Wix utilizes this tactic and reportedly has a yearly ad budget of more than $100 million.
You’ve most likely discovered numerous of their commercials while enjoying videos on YouTube or browsing other social networks platforms.
Appeal to prejudice propaganda
This technique makes use of bias for the propagandists’ advantage. Fairness cream ads fall under this umbrella.
Read More: Top Stakeholder Management Interview Questions 2022
Card Stacking Propaganda Examples
Burger King.
The advertisers of this fast-food giant used terms like “30% fewer calories” to advertise their fries. It is unclear that the amount of calories in their french fries is lesser than whom. Assuming that they made a truthful claim of decreasing the calories, it is unclear whether reducing calories directly implies a fat decrease. Because case, the negative aspects are willingly concealed. Despite the fact that the brand-new fries are declared better than the previous ones, they are still abundant in fats and contain calories in general. For any human, they are quickly omitted. The details of how the taste is assured to be increased are likewise unclear. This is a timeless example of Card Stacking Propaganda.
Pizza Hut.
Now operating worldwide, the American restaurant chain has repeatedly used the card stacking technique to mislead or influence their clients. Among the examples of Pizza Hut advancing this propaganda is when they pledged to give “50% more” with “50% more meat” and “50% more cheese”. This info is misguiding as the data can not be shown. The consumers can not identify and validate this pledge of “50% more”. The advertisers have successfully managed to present a rosy (or cheesy in this case) image that shows accurate information that can neither be rejected nor be confirmed. They have picked to rely upon stats as people are most likely to believe what they see or quantify to look more believable.
Political Advertisements.
Card Stacking Propaganda is frequently utilized in modern-day political advertisements. Political leaders use the realities and figures to magnify what their candidate has actually done during their last tenure. They also try to focus more on their measurable function as the leader in power or as the leader in opposition, such as the increase in the number of schools or the reduction in joblessness, etc. Political celebrations list the various ways their prospect promises to assist their district or constituency citizens.
Still, they lay zero focus on how the candidate might fail to provide his guarantees. The marketers choose not to reveal the reality of what they are offering however they likewise hide the proven unfavourable aspects of their service from the past.
If a political leader has currently gotten a possibility to stay in power and still stopped working to perform his duties to the fullest, then those realities need to be faded by highlighting misleading facts or through future promises. Some political poles are also conducted by counting on a stacked audience. The people participating in a poll are mainly old and thus have actually not quit on their notions. Now the results of a survey that was responded to by a stacked population are extremely likely to be biased.
Registration Advertisements.
Particular organizations or channels or getaway advertisements need you to sign up for them beforehand. These organizations attempt to accumulate the benefits of using their company or the quality of their channel, or the pleasant experience that one may get on their getaway resort or hotels. They will note the advantages show the spectacular views and splendid experiences of individuals who have actually used their product or service.
They use words like “experience” “happening” and present an outstanding image. The information that may be of more use to specific consumers, such as the fact that the subscriber must register for a whole month or a waiting list for the next 3 weeks, is not clearly mentioned. They are concealed in the conditions section or specified at the bottom in smaller and less visible typeface sizes. In the broad spectrum of details, it is simpler for the advertiser to conceal the realities based on the likes of their business.
Sun Chips.
The now stopped Sun Chips has likewise used this marketing propaganda to boost their product sales. They had portrayed their chips much better than the competitors because they contain pretty lower fat (30% exactly). It is not obvious if relatively less fat is still healthy or not for the human body. The only info offered is that “the fat is lower.” The use of numbers and stats will construct an image of a much healthier option in the audiences’ minds. That is precisely the objective behind using these numbers and statistics in the advertisement.
Mr. Clean.
A brand owned by Procter and Gamble is a versatile cleaner. This brand draws in the customers by using words like “Magic Eraser,” which results in an image of an easy and budget friendly way for clients to clean their floors and tiles. The marketer also declares that their brand-new version is “50% more powerful than the previous one”– another traditional use of statistics to develop a more credible statement. There is also a possibility that the past variation was not helpful, which is an enhancement yet not of much use. Still, the use of words and persuading images makes the audience believe in the effectiveness of this particular product and ignore the negative aspects or questionable elements.
Card Stacking Propaganda has directed purchase choices for a number of us, consciously or subconsciously. This method has stopped working to do what the majority of brands promise to do: be sincere to their clients. It is a slightly inconsiderate behavior towards consumers on the part of advertisers and their particular business. Although purchasing stays with the client, they are deceived in more than one method.
Hence, as prospective purchasers of all the brands mentioned above and many more, we ought to be aware of the techniques utilized by companies to enhance their revenues. The audiences must attempt and stay more informed about the benefits and drawbacks of the item they are planning to buy. Likewise, they need to make a purposeful effort to discover more than what is represented in ads and learn more about all the sides to a story and not simply count on partial and stacked information. Let us become more educated and not be manipulated with false information and cherry-picking.
We hope you found this article on card stacking propaganda useful.