Examples of Propaganda Techniques: Plain Folks

It was claimed by some that the vote was swayed for Bill Clinton when he donned a pair of shades and played some sax on the Arsenio Hall Show, proving that he was much cooler than stodgy old George Bush Senior.

Here is Yale, Harvard and northeast prep-school educated son of a former president sitting on the tailgate of a battered pick-up truck. The implication here is that he is just like you and me.

Here is another picture of George W. Bush clearing brush from his ranch in West Texas - just like you and me. After his presidency, Bush moved to a home in a luxurious part of North Dallas where, presumably, there is no brush to clear.

Plain Folks:

Plain Folks is another of the seven propaganda techniques identified by the Institute of Propaganda. The plain folks technique is used by the propagandist to convince the public that s/he is like them, shares their interests, beliefs and needs, and has their best interests at heart.

The propagandist will imitate the speech pattern of the crowd s/he wishes to woo, or use idiom or jokes familiar to that segment of the public. The propagandist will increase the illusion by subtly mispronouncing words or using slight grammatical errors; by mimicking the speech pattern the propagandist shows s/he is just like the audience - plain folks - and not an affected, prissy intellectual who thinks s/he is better than they.

The propagandist heightens this affect by dressing in attire similar to his/her targeted audience – simple attire: jeans, boots, flannel shirt, jeans jacket, for example – and by affecting movements which reflect the body language of the people.

Finally, the propagandist will be photographed doing hobbies or leisure activities associated with the hobbies and leisure activities of the targeted audience. Some examples would be George Bush clearing the brush on his ranch (many of his supporters were rural who could relate to the brush clearing activity because that was something they frequently did). Another example would be Barack Obama engaging in sports, such as playing golf or basketball, which shows him to be a regular guy, but also emphasizes his youth, vigor and manliness.