Modern Propaganda (speech)

When we think of propaganda, we tend to imagine old war posters, bold slogans, and confusing cover-ups. Or maybe you see black-and-white films telling us to smoke cigarettes, then later telling us not to. Or telling women to stay home, then telling them to go to work. We’re taught in school to spot bias and question sources, as if propaganda is always loud and obvious. But like everything else in the world, propaganda has evolved and now it’s a lot harder to see.

In my final year of college, I took a course called Public Relations and Society. I was excited for it, since I was considering at the time if PR sounded like a good spot for me. But what I learned hit me hard. The public relations industry is basically the professional art of mass manipulation.

It just wears a polished name that keeps people from questioning its power. The more I studied it, the more I realized that propaganda isn’t just history, it’s daily life.

Propaganda is designed to engrain ideas in your mind without you realizing it. It used to appeal directly to your emotions or tell you what to believe. Take the myth that carrots improve your vision. Even scientists once backed that claim, but it actually started as British propaganda during World War II to mislead Germany about their radar technology. That’s how easily false “facts” can become permanent truths when the message is delivered the right way.

But in modern America, propaganda doesn’t shout anymore. It whispers.

It blends into entertainment, advertising, and algorithms until it feels like background noise. It’s not a loud voice telling us what to think, it’s quiet repetition shaping what we believe without us realizing it.

Today, propaganda hides behind branding, influence, and technology. It’s in the content we scroll past, the headlines we half-read, the products we buy, and the people we trust. Algorithms don’t lecture us; they just flood our feeds with outrage, pride, fear, or belonging. Over time, those narratives repeat until they start to feel like truth. That’s how modern propaganda works. It’s not about forcing ideas anymore but surrounding you with them until you stop questioning.

Let's take the idea that recycling will solve the plastic crisis. Consumers are led to feel virtuous while corporations producing the waste, escape responsibility. According to TruthInAdversting.org, Less than 9% of all plastic ever produced has actually been recycled. Most of the “recycle” messaging exists to make people feel like they are doing enough, when the real solution lies in systemic change.

In a country that prioritizes profit and image, corporations have perfected the art of persuasion. They use propaganda to convince people they need things they don’t, to make consumption feel like identity, and to disguise exploitation as empowerment.

Advertising doesn’t sell products anymore. It sells belief systems. The jingles, campaigns, and slogans aren’t about the product anymore; they’re about control. Some companies lie so consistently that the average person no longer knows what they’re really buying.

Take greenwashing, for example. That’s when companies pretend to care about the environment to make their products look sustainable. According to Truth in Advertising’s 2025 report, more than 150 class-action lawsuits have been filed against corporations accused of misleading people with fake “eco-friendly” marketing.

About 21 percent of those cases involved false claims like “earth-friendly” or “environmentally responsible,” 23 percent involved fake “sustainable” claims, 14 percent targeted “recyclable” packaging that isn’t, and 9 percent focused on false “biodegradable” or “compostable” promises. Nearly three-quarters of those cases have been settled or dismissed. This shows just how much power big brands have to rewrite the truth without consequence. And this only reflects which cases made it to court.

That’s propaganda at its cleanest. It doesn’t make you believe something extreme. It just convinces you to feel good about your part in a broken system. You see a bottle labeled “eco-smart,” and you feel like you’re helping the planet, even if you’re not. That’s psychological manipulation disguised as ethics.

  It’s the same concept as when you walk into your local grocery store and see phrases like “farm fresh,” “antibiotic-free,” or even “USDA approved.” These labels can no longer be fully trusted, leaving consumers with little to rely on. Subway, for example, markets itself as healthy fast food with the motto “Eat Fresh.” However, studies show its sandwiches are not any fresher or healthier than McDonald’s.

Many people also know McDonald’s food is highly processed, yet the company continues to push a farm narrative so subconsciously, you associate it with freshness and health.

When you eat McDonald’s, you feel less bad because everyone is under the slight illusion that it’s healthier than it is. And once everyone, including your favorite celebrities, is eating it, you’re more likely to want to try it too.

Corporate propaganda also feeds on guilt, desire, and addiction. Companies cover up labor exploitation and environmental destruction with trendy activism and charity partnerships. Fast-fashion brands that pay garment workers less than a living wage release “women’s empowerment” lines. Fossil fuel corporations run commercials about “building a cleaner future” while actively lobbying against climate legislation. It’s not about doing better, it’s about looking better. It's psychological warfare packaged in a shopping cart. 

Political propaganda is the most dangerous kind because it shapes not just opinions, but reality itself. In a democracy built on perception, the truth often matters less than how it’s framed.

Some propaganda is easy to spot. Slogans like “Make America Great Again” or campaign stunts like Kamala Harris inviting rappers to her rallies, are all calculated ways to reach specific audiences. But most propaganda isn’t loud or flashy. It lives in imagery, tone, and word choice.

According to the National Library of Medicine, a 2025 study found that right-leaning outlets most often show immigrants as “crowds” or “violators,” while left-leaning outlets show “women and children.” Same issue, same border but entirely different emotional framing. Both sides manipulate feelings, just in opposite ways, each building its own version of truth.

That’s what we call visual framing: picking images designed to trigger emotion. It’s powerful because our brains process images faster than text and remember them longer. Even if we forget the headline, the image stays. Over time, certain visuals become normal or objective.

And sometimes, it’s not just journalists creating bias, it’s the audience.

The same study found that people often imagine bias even when it’s not there, seeing what they expect to see based on their own beliefs. That’s how something called echo chambers are formed. People start trusting the content that already agrees with them and dismissing anything that doesn’t. We now contribute to the mass propaganda.

Technology has only made this worse. AI can now generate political posts, fake news stories, and deepfake videos that look entirely real. Big data allows campaigns to target specific voters based on fear, identity, or insecurity. Propaganda used to be about broadcasting a single message. Now it’s about tailoring millions of different ones to millions of different minds.

  Even the general belief that foreign U.S. military interventions are about protecting democracy, is part of this modern propaganda. Americans are taught to see our invasions or aid as moral acts, even when evidence shows many interventions serve economic or geopolitical interests instead. By framing complex conflicts as moral missions, media and government messaging hide the real motives while keeping public trust intact.

Propaganda isn’t limited to politics or corporations, it’s built into how we see the world. Whether we realize it or not, our thoughts, opinions, and even research are shaped by others. One example is how the U.S. media portrays Africa and Black identity.

For decades, American media, politics, and pop culture have pushed a narrow image of Africa. They’re poor, chaotic, uncivilized, and dependent on Western help.

The same visuals repeat: dusty roads, starving children, broken systems. Meanwhile, the tech industry in Kenya, the art scenes in Ghana, and the booming cities of Nigeria and South Africa get ignored. That’s not an accident. A balanced image of Africa doesn’t serve the narrative America wants to tell. By portraying Africa as “the world’s burden,” the U.S. gets to maintain its role as global savior and moral leader, even while exploiting African resources behind the scenes. 

In the U.S., Black Americans are fed the idea that Africa is nothing but poverty and danger, a place you wouldn’t want to visit or belong to. And in Africa, American media spreads the image of Black Americans as violent, lawless, and rebellious – people with no culture, just chaos. Both of those stereotypes are false, but they work together. They stop Black Americans from seeing Africa as home and stop Africans from seeing Black Americans as family.

This isn’t about selling a product or electing a politician, it’s about control. It keeps Black Americans believing they can’t fully “fit” into modern society, while convincing white Americans that Black people are in need of saving. And by deepening the divide between Africans and African Americans, it ensures unity never becomes a threat to power.

Other everyday beliefs are also shaped by propaganda. Many people believe college guarantees success, even though studies from Georgetown University show that wealth, location, and systemic inequality matter far more than individual effort. Even the idea that technology makes us more connected obscures the reality that social media often increases isolation, division, and polarization.

These are all subtle, normalized beliefs that feel obvious but they’re engineered narratives designed to control thought, perception, and behavior. This propaganda works so effectively today because it feels personal. It doesn’t always come from government posters or military broadcasts, it comes from TV, influencers, and media that feel authentic. It exploits confirmation bias. The repetition makes ideas familiar, and familiarity feels like truth.

On top of that, the overwhelming amount of information makes it hard to sort fact from manipulation. Propaganda doesn’t need to silence us, it just keeps us distracted, emotional, and divided.

The reality is that propaganda is everywhere, but you can try to control how it influences you. Question what you see and hear: who benefits, and what’s missing? Check multiple sources and seek perspectives outside your usual feed. Pause before reacting online and ask why content made you feel a certain way. Awareness and critical thinking are your most powerful tools. Propaganda won’t disappear, but you don’t have to let it speak for you.