Effective rational propaganda becomes possible only when there is a clear understanding, on the part of all concerned, of the nature of symbols and of their relations to the things and events symbolized. Irrational propaganda depends for its effectiveness on a general failure to understand the nature of symbols. Simple-minded people tend to equate the symbol with what it stands for, to attribute to things and events some of the qualities expressed by the words in terms of which the propagandist has chosen, for his own purposes, to talk about. Consider a simple example. Most cosmetics are made of lanolin, which is a mixture of purified wool-fat and water beaten up into an emulsion. This emulsion has many valuable properties: it penetrates the skin, it does not become rancid, it is mildly antiseptic, and so forth. But the commercial propagandists do not speak about the virtues of the emulsion. They give it some picturesquely voluptuous name, talk ecstatically and misleadingly about feminine beauty, and show pictures of gorgeous blondes nourishing their tissues with skin food. "The cosmetic manufacturers", one of their member has written, are not selling lanolin, they are selling hope" . For this hope, this fraudulent implication of a promise that they will be transfigured, women will pay ten or twenty times the value of the emulsion which the propagandists have so skillfully related, by means of misleading symbols, to a deep-seated and almost universal feminine wish- the wish to be more attractive to members of the opposite sex. The principles underlying this kind of propaganda are extremely simple. Find some common desire, some wide-spread unconscious fear or anxiety; think out some way to relate this wish or fear to the product you have to sell; then build a bridge of verbal or pictorial symbols over which your customer can pass from fact to compensatory dream, and from the dream to the illusion that your product, when purchased, will make the dream come true." We no longer buy oranges, we buy vitality. We do not buy just a car, we buy prestige".
In every case the motivation analyst has found some deep seated wish or fear, whose energy can be used to move the consumer to part with cash and so, indirectly, to tun the wheels of industry. Stored in the minds and bodies of countless individuals, this potential energy is released by, and transmitted along, a line of symbols carefully laid out so as to by-pass rationality and obscure the real issue.
Aldous Huxley, Brave New World Revisited. 1958
(Adapted)
Vocabulary:
Mildly: not strong
To part with cash: to pay
Gorgeous blondes: beautiful women with blond hair.
I. Guided commentary
1) In your own words point out the difference between rational and irrational propagandas. (2 points)
2) How does the propagandist deceive people? Give two (2) examples. (3 point)
3) Basing on the text, what are the main functions of the motivation analyst in the advertising process? (4 points)
4) Should advertising be used all the time and for everything? Justify your answer. (5 points)
II. Translation
Translate into French from "In every case..." down to "obscure the real issue" (6 points)