Examples of Propaganda Technique: Bandwagon Appeal, Assertion

Bandwagon Appeal:

Etymology: The “bandwagon fallacy” comes from the phrase “jump on the bandwagon”. There are various stories or theories where this phrase came from. One version is that the 19^th Century Abolitionist  movement employed bandwagons pulled by draft horses, and filled with preachers, speakers, supporters and musicians,  would roll through towns encouraging the drunks to hop on the bandwagon. This is also where the term ”falling off the wagon” comes from. If a recovering drunk took a swig from a beer bottle,  he had “fallen off the wagon”. The bandwagon was also used for campaigning politicians who would use the same concept: bandwagons filled with politicians, speakers, supporters and bands of musicians rolling through town, getting the message out: Vote for Me!

Alias:

Appeal to Popularity

Argument by Consensus

Form:

Idea A is popular;

Therefore, A  is correct.

The Bandwagon fallacy occurs whenever anyone argues for an idea based on its irrelevant appeal to popularity.

Advertising is a rich source of examples of the “Bandwagon Appeal” with many companies claiming to be number one or most popular, even though its popularity is irrelevant to the product’s merit.

Assertion:

Assertion is commonly used in advertising and modern propaganda. An assertion is an enthusiastic or energetic statement presented as a fact, although it is not necessarily true. The assertion often implies that the statement requires no explanation or back up, but that it should merely be accepted without question. 

Examples of assertion, although somewhat scarce in wartime propaganda, can be found often in modern advertising propaganda. Any time advertisers state that their product is the best without providing evidence for this, they are using an assertion. The customer, ideally, should simply agree to the statement without searching for additional information or reasoning. Assertions, although usually simple to spot, are often dangerous forms of propaganda because they often include falsehoods or lies.

“One in ten people need a new mattress!” is a good example of an innocuous form of assertion; how do the advertisers at Leeds' mattress know that one in ten people need a new mattress? What are the criteria for making such an assertion?