“Great is the power of steady misrepresentation”
- Charles Darwin

Fathali Ghahremani Ghadjar

Some years ago, I was taking the Number 6 subway from the Upper East Side to Soho.  In the subway, along the ceiling, among the steady stream of advertising, was one that caught my eye.  It was an advert for a marketing company that showed a paper napkin on which someone had crossed-out “Make computer – sell computer” and scribbled - in red - “Sell computer – make computer”.  

The statement irked me then, and it irks me now; that little advertising poster on the subway emphasizes a major issue of our times: perception eclipsing reality. The hard, physical world is being over-shadowed by the fungible world of word images. The use of words to denote real, definable and somewhat tangible facts has been overshadowed with fuzzy non-real virtual definitions.  Thus, words such as “blue”, “cerulean” and “azure” instead of bringing specific shades of a color to mind have become marketing tools to evoke an emotional relation to the color or a product.   

Words create the scaffolding for human perception.  They have nothing to do with the palpable world; they are simply a mnemonic that creates an intellectual link to reality.  Yet, people perceive the world through these self-created mnemonic lenses and often mistake the mental illusions for reality.  Words can create a conceptual world of simple, safe, sound bites that trump harsh, palpable, physical reality; in short, they are the foundations of advertising and propaganda.  

For some unfathomable reason, a differentiation is made between advertising and propaganda.  Advertising, which is primarily corporate sponsored, is considered “good”, while propaganda, with its political and state sponsorship, is considered “bad”.  This distinction is quite immaterial.  Both advertising and propaganda seek to influence the masses for the benefit of the perpetuator and both use identical methodologies.  Once this methodology is understood, the manipulation is no longer opaque and the manipulated can – should they want – participate knowingly rather than unknowingly in the game.

Advertising/propaganda, in order to be effective, must abide by certain rules and require protocols.  Students of human nature, using these rules, have manipulated human minds since time immemorial.  With the advent of mass communication, first through the written word, then the printing press and finally with worldwide electronic information bombardment, the process has become a dominant force in human society.  

The basic postulate of advertising/propaganda is the creation of what Chomsky calls a “necessary illusion” .  Before a person can be manipulated, an illusion of reality must be created in the person’s mind. The fundamental law of this illusion was best articulated by the person who wrote:

“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.” 

This quotation attributed to Joseph Goebbels, the spin-meister of the Nazi regime, reflects two significant concepts:

1. Masses can be manipulated through information control.
2. The manipulation is inevitably for someone’s benefit.

The first part is well known.  Unfortunately, the second and equally important part of the dictum, i.e., the element of gain by the originator of the scheme, is often overlooked. 

In the above quote, the “lie” is an implied untruth, this is not necessarily so.  The “lie” can be an “untruth”, but it also can be an expedient “truth”.  Also, in this quote, the “State” – a political entity – is considered the beneficiary.  The state, however, in the present world, is not unique.  The masses are being manipulated by a plethora of sources, e.g., corporations, religious organizations, nonreligious organizations, NGOs, anyone who can benefit from convincing a population to sign on to their economic/ social/ religious/ cultural/ political agenda.  

Words and mnemonics must evoke a perception, the “necessary illusion” of Chomsky in the subject’s mind, an image of reality that is not necessarily real.  Further, it is not important that every person has the same exact picture elicited by the words, but it is critical that the words provoke a common emotion based on some shared social norms.  Words such as ‘family of nations’, ‘democratically elected’, ‘green products’, ‘clean coal’, etc., all stimulate certain emotional images, even if the metaphors themselves are totally meaningless.  

Although, the ‘necessary illusion’ law lays the foundations for all advertising/propaganda, it cannot be applied haphazardly; its implementation requires a set of rules for efficacy.  These rules form the strategic principles of advertising/propaganda and were best articulated by the Oxford historian Norman Davies in his book “Europe: A History”.  

The strategic application of Davies’ Rules also requires a set of “tactics”, guidelines that Lakoff has called “Framing”  for implementation.  These guidelines form the tactical tools for implementing Davies’ strategy.  Each of Davies’ rules can be applied using Lakoff’s tactics to give them potency.  

This combination has been used so extensively that audiences are oblivious of their presence.  In their somnambulant state they cease to recognize the difference between reality and mnemonics; thus, they can be endlessly manipulated by multiple sources – some for good, some for bad, some truthful, some untruthful.

Davies’ Rules define the strategical landscape and Lakoff defines the tactics to be used in each case; thus, a plan for influencing audiences can be outlined as below:

• Davies’ Rule 1: The rule of simplification: reducing all data to a simple confrontation between 'Good and Bad', 'Friend and Foe' through use of the relevant parts of Lakoff tactics listed below:
  • Show respect, 
  • Respond by reframing, 
  • Think and talk at the level of values
  • Say what you believe (don’t get involved with facts!)
• Davies’ Rule 2: The rule of disfiguration: discrediting the opposition by crude smears and parodies through use of the relevant parts of Lakoff tactics.
• Davies’ Rule3: The rule of transfusion: manipulating the consensus values of the target audience for one's own ends through use of the relevant parts of Lakoff tactics.
• Davies’ Rule 4: The rule of unanimity: presenting one's viewpoint as if it were the unanimous opinion of all right-thinking people: draining the doubting individual into agreement by the appeal of star-performers, by social pressure, and by 'psychological contagion' through use of the relevant parts of Lakoff tactics.
• Davies’ Rule 5: The rule of orchestration: endlessly repeating the same messages in different variations and combinations through use of the relevant parts of Lakoff tactics.

For example, suppose a corporation wants to benefit financially from marketing a food product to children.  They create a necessary illusion by using the idea that is universally accepted – fruit is good for you.  The marketing plan is then implemented step by step as follows: 

• (Law 1 Simplification) They choose a simple name such as “Froot Loops”, implying that it is fundamentally a healthy fruit product. 
• (Law 2 Disfiguration) They package Froot Loops with a picture of a jungle bird in a primeval forest, hinting that all other breakfast foods are less authentic or natural. 
• (Law 3 Transfusion) They emphasize Froot Loops are specifically manufactured to satisfy your healthy breakfast needs. 
• (Law 4 Unanimity) Everyone, including some cartoon jungle bird, agrees that the best way to start the day is a bowl of this product.
• (Law 5 Orchestration) Finally broadcast the idea to the target audience so many times that it becomes part of their vocabulary 

Thus, a product, manufactured in a factory, that is a combination of sugar, starch, artificial aromatics and food coloring is transformed into a natural “…part of this nutritious breakfast” that somehow has its roots in a jungle and is essential to your child’s well-being (a subtle play on parental emotions).

This methodology is also used by the news media.  All news is reduced to a sound bite with a short eye-catching headline, e.g.,

(Law 1).   “US predicts Iraqi victory in Tikrit ”.
(Law 2) The good and bad are identified - Iraqi troops good victorious guys, ISIL bad loser guys.
(Law 3) An idea is created in the target audience that they benefit directly from ISIL loss.
(Law 4) It is hammered into the reader that everyone wants ISIL to lose – as verified by no greater authority than a four-star US general.
(Law 5) And, finally, this “news” is repeated in every form by every media around the world.

The news article exemplifies the Chomsky ‘necessary illusion’ created through application of Davies’ rules and Lakoff’s guidelines.   It ‘frames’ the issue in good vs. bad and subtly deals with the personal values of the reader from the get-go, rings of sincerity and honesty even though the reporter is not physically in Tikrit.  It never mentions any facts about what is happening to the citizens of the city, what motivates ISIL or the Iraqi troops, where they come from ideologically, what is the purpose of the whole military exercise, etc.  Actually, aside from a few disjointed pictures, an astute reader is left wondering what is the basis or what constitutes the soon to be declared “victory”.

The reporter completely ignores the dictum of “who, where, when, how and why” of journalism and reduces news to a personal opinion about the issue.  Thus, the reader is left with nothing more than a vague notion that he personally benefits from an ISIL defeat and, without any idea of why, signs on to the reporter’s position. 

It is no longer possible to bring this massive worldwide advertising/propaganda machine under control.  It has become such a “military, industrial, political, informational complex” that it moves with its own self-generated, unstoppable inertia.  Still, it behooves us as human beings to at least understand how this behemoth influences our day-to-day decision-making and life.

It is important to be cognizant of how Chomsky’s “necessary illusion” is created by Davies’ 5 Laws and Lakoff’s guidelines for framing in all advertising and propaganda programs.  This is not an issue of “truth” or “lies”; it is simply being aware of the purpose and techniques employed to influence people.   

Perhaps if enough people recognize how they are being manipulated, the power of misrepresentation can be ever so slightly diminished and some people will recognize that it is important to make the computer before you sell it!