Aveeno Commercial: the Propaganda Techniques Used in the Commercials

Aveeno Commercial

In today’s life, people can see or hear lots of smart commercials on television, radio, magazine, and newspaper that uses many propaganda techniques. A propaganda technique is a systematic effort to influence people’s opinions, to win them over to a certain view or side, as defined by Maclintock in her essay "propaganda techniques." Different types of propaganda techniques try to influence audiences in different ways. All propaganda based commercials have the same goal, which is to get the viewer to purchase their products. For instance, The Aveeno commercial uses three main propaganda techniques to seduce the viewer to purchase the product.

One of the main techniques of propaganda use in the Aveeno commercial is glittering generalities. Maclintock defines glittering generalities as, "a vague word or phrase used to evoke positive feelings rather than to convey information.” The Aveeno commercial tries to make viewers feel comfortable about its product, and creates a temptation to purchase the product. First, the Aveeno commercial uses the words such as “health” and “natural” to promote the product. When viewers hear these words, they may believe that the product is good for them. Next, the commercial states “leaves skin smooth, brightening and soft by using the Aveeno.” When the viewer hears these words, they may picture the positive effect in their mind, and dream about it. Finally, the commercial uses the phase “24 hours locks in skin moisture.” The viewer may think it only takes a short time to have a beautiful skin by using the Aveeno product.

The Aveeno commercial not only uses glittering generalities, but also uses the transfer propaganda technique. As defined by Machintock, transfer propaganda technique is used to carry over the authority and approval of something that people respect, and revere to something the propagandist would have us accept. One example in the commercial is by saying “Aveeno is number one dermatologist...