History Main / PropagandaPiece

* ''Animation/SquirrelAndHedgehog'' is an animated series from North Korea. The squirrels and hedgehogs are North Koreans (civilians and army, respectively) protecting their homeland against mice (South Koreans), weasels (Japanese), and wolves (Americans). And without much help from the drunken Bears (Russia).

* ''Series/WhyWeFight'' is a series of American propaganda films produced during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, directed by Creator/FrankCapra, which sought to explain to the troops why they were being sent far away from their families to fight and possibly die in Europe and Asia. Later, the films would be shown on the home front as well, though this was not the original intended audience.

* ''Animation/SquirrelAndHedgehog'' is an animated series from North Korea. The squirrels and hedgehogs are North Koreans (civilians and army, respectively) protecting their homeland against mice (South Koreans), weasels (Japanese), and wolves (Americans).

* ''LightNovel/HighSchoolDXD'' portrays the Holy Bible itself as the greatest piece of propaganda that God ever created. The book itself really is holy, and any Devil who tries to read or recite it will experience pain for their troubles. However, the thing is that Devils really aren't evil. Most of them want to live normal lives like everyone else. Satan himself is a ReasonableAuthorityFigure, and Devils in general don't hold any ill intentions or preconceived notions about Angels. Angels and Fallen Angels maliciously attack Devils because "the good book" tells them to.

* ''Film/WagTheDog'' had the song [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enH2igVo55U "The American Dream"]] pushing for border protection.

Supertrope to AttackOfThePoliticalAd, JoinTheArmyTheySaid, ScareCampaign and WartimeCartoon.

* ''Series/{{Dragnet}}'' was one of the very first (and most successful) cases of what has become known as "copaganda"; media that glorifies law enforcement while obscuring negative qualities. Jack Webb worked directly ''with the LAPD,'' and most modern critics recognize that the show was ''direct LAPD propaganda.''

* ''Series/{{Dragnet}}'' was one of the very first (and most successful) cases of the aforementioned copaganda. Jack Webb worked directly ''with the LAPD,'' and most modern critics recognize that the show was ''direct LAPD propaganda.''

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Historically, propaganda is a neutral word without any political connotations. The concept of propaganda is [[OlderThanTheyThink Older Than You'd Think]], stemming back to antics in 5th Century Persia; for more information see its [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda Wikipedia article.]] The word itself gained fashion around 1622, as the Catholic Church instituted a new department in its ministry to non-Catholics in new areas: ''Congregatio de Propaganda Fide'' in Latin, or "Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith." Since religions naturally choose to spread their news of their faith as part of its function, one shouldn't [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools see this as a good thing]] nor [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools use the otherwise neutral word as an accusation]] of that institution. The Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement applies here.

* UsefulNotes/{{Nazi|Germany}}s didn't do this ''all'' the time. [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Minister of Propaganda]] Joseph Goebbels recognized that constant indoctrination would turn off audiences, so most Nazi cinema consisted of comedies and romances and other escapism. But they did use the film industry for political messaging. Wiki/TheOtherWiki has a list [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Nazi_propaganda_films here]]. Notable Nazi propaganda films include:

Compare with PoesLaw, StrawManNewsMedia, and WarIsGlorious. Contrast with MyCountryTisOfTheeThatISting and WhatDoYouMeanItsNotPolitical. Compare and contrast {{Anvilicious}}. Many marketing techniques are applicable to both propaganda and advertising, for example, compare and contrast AstroTurf with ViralMarketing. See also CannedOrdersOverLoudspeaker, EdutainmentShow, [[MaliciousSlander Malicious Libel]], NewSpeak, {{Newsreel}}s, PatrioticFervor, SubliminalAdvertising, TheWarOnStraw, and Wiki/TheOtherWiki's article on [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priming_%28psychology%29 "Priming" in psychology.]]

** ''Film/{{Titanic|1943}}'' (1943), based on the events of the sinking of the UsefulNotes/RMSTitanic, used for anti-British propaganda (adding a fictional German officer [[IgnoredExpert whose warnings]] were ignored by the [[EvilBrit greedy and arrogant British owner of the shipping line]]). It was shelved by the censors when it was realized that a film about a crowd of panicking people dying in helpless situation would remind the German populace, who were at that time subjected to almost nightly air raids by the Allies.

You might ''think'' that the easiest way to persuade someone is to use reasoned argument. It is not.

* ''Website/GoodbyeStranger'': The fictional video game ''Zeroworld'' was created as a warning against exploiting the monsters known as strangers for profit. The Pokédex-like entries are written from the point of view of the strangers being mistreated by humans. It was not successful, and when it was rediscovered AfterTheEnd, it became infamous for how prophetic it was.

* ''WesternAnimation/WanderOverYonder'': "The Cartoon" is about [[EvilOverlord Lord Hater]] getting the Watchdogs to make a propaganda cartoon about him. The end result is one giant StylisticSuck-laden parody of ''WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse1983''.

* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' episode "The Ember Island Players" has a summation about the series up to that point, in the format of a Fire Nation propaganda theatre show.

[[folder:General]]
* There is an entire trope that ''any'' media that depicts war by showing war itself (rather than its victims or consequences or the like) is propaganda *for* militaries and war: TruffautWasRight. This is ''especially'' true in the US, where all branches of the military and the CIA have connections to Hollywood, provide money and filming locations and props, and therefore use everything from your favorite AAA video game to your favorite superhero movie to promote US military power and imperialism, as well as to recruit for the military.
* What do the PoliceProcedural, the BuddyCopShow, and pretty much any media centering around or influenced by police have in common? They are what is known as "copaganda," and police often provide everything from filming locations to information to make themselves look better, the police perspective is seen as the correct one even when it is factually ''not so,'' marginalized people and social minorities are often tokenized at best and have PoliceBrutality against them justified at worst...among a myriad of other issues that make cop-centric media often pro-police propaganda.
* Some specific AbuseTropes and SexualHarassmentAndRapeTropes, when uncritically played straight or depicted in particularly indulgent ways, can lead to dehumanization, misogyny, and acceptance of deviant sexual behavior, which can lead to reenactment of the abuse in reality. How this happens is ''complicated'' - not ''everyone'' who sees even the worst media messages related to relationships or sex will act them out in real life (though enough do to make it a major concern, especially once something like normalization of [[{{Ephebophile}} teenage sexualization]] happens or the NotIfTheyEnjoyedItRationalization becomes a cultural norm), and some people do use fiction that conveys such antisocial or problematic messages as harm reduction or trauma processing.
* One of the, if not ''the'' biggest, problems with some forms of the {{Stereotype}} is that it can essentially become propaganda ''against marginalized people'' used to ''justify oppressing them.''
* Propaganda is not always straightforward:
** For example, the StealthCigaretteCommercial promotes tobacco while ostensibly being an anti-tobacco message (that is so ridiculous or cringy that smoking or vaping looks cool in comparison, or that characterizes tobacco as ForbiddenFruit).
** Other times, propaganda doesn't ''have'' a ''specific'' message - as much as to muddy the waters of a debate or situation with the AbominationAccusationAttack or general {{demonization}}, [[YouCanPanicNow fearmongering]], and logical fallacies (among other tactics) to encourage nihilism or exhaustion. Professional "troll farms" work off of this concept - that just making people so afraid/confused/exhausted/outraged that they don't discuss an important issue at all or don't participate can have a similar or even better effect to outright "do what we want" messaging.
** And yet more propaganda exists to offer worthless or feel-good immediate solutions - an example would be a major chemical polluter funding home water tests and claiming to donate a percentage of each year's earnings to cancer research - while not cleaning up their mess or encouraging others in their industry to do so.
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* ''ComicBook/StrikeforceMorituri'' had in-universe propaganda comics. Notable bits involving them included all the female characters noting that their propaganda versions [[MostCommonSuperpower had a certain specific feature]], and a depiction of the very first mission of the programme that was later revealed to be seriously over-idealised.

[[folder:LiveActionTV]]
* ''Series/{{Dragnet}}'' was one of the very first (and most successful) cases of the aforementioned copaganda. Jack Webb worked directly ''with the LAPD,'' and most modern critics recognize that the show was ''direct LAPD propaganda.''
* ''Series/Cops1989'' was arguably Dragnet's SpiritualSuccessor for the 1980s-early 1990s, as its page and the Running From Cops podcast demonstrate - it served not to educate people about policing and crime, but instead to increase fear and boost the reputations of police regardless of their actions.
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* ''Literature/UncleTomsCabin'' is a novel written by Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in 1853, its purpose was to attack the institution of slavery and further the cause of abolitionism. It worked, in the North at least, while simultaneously making a lot of slave-holding Southerners really angry.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra:'' After the Northern Water Tribe attacks the Southern Water Tribe, Varrick funds a series of films called ''The Adventures of Nuktuk: Hero of the South'' (with Bolin playing the titular character) and Unalaq is portrayed as a cartoonishly evil overlord with a DoomsdayDevice. [[spoiler: Varrick doesn't know this, but while Unalaq's real plan isn't the same, it is every bit [[AccidentalTruth monstrous as the one portrayed]].]] The goal of the films are to get the public to side with the Southern Tribe so that president Raiko would send his forces to help them win the civil war (but in actuality, it's part of a greater plan for Varrick to create an even bigger war he can profit from).