Herr Goebbels: Father of Modern Advertising
elag
These principles purport to summarize what made Goebbels
tick or fail to tick. They may be thought of as his intellectual legacy.
Whether the legacy has been reliably deduced is a methodological
question. Whether it is valid is a psychological matter. Whether or
when parts of it should be utilized in a democratic society are
profound and disturbing problems of a political and ethical nature.
1. Propagandist must have access to intelligence concerning
events and public opinion.
2. Propaganda must be planned and executed by only one
authority.
a. It must issue all the propaganda directives
b. It must explain propaganda directives to important officials
and maintain their morale
c. It must oversee other agencies' activities which have
propaganda consequences
3. The propaganda consequences of an action must be
considered in planning that action.
4. Propaganda must affect the enemy's policy and action.
a. By suppressing propagandistically desirable material which
can provide the enemy with useful intelligence
b. By openly disseminating propaganda whose content or
tone causes the enemy to draw the desired conclusions
c. By goading the enemy into revealing vital information about
himself
d. By making no reference to a desired enemy activity when
any reference would discredit that activity
5. Declassified, operational information must be available to
implement a propaganda campaign
6. To be perceived, propaganda must evoke the interest of an
audience and must be transmitted through an attention-getting
communications medium.
7. Credibility alone must determine whether propaganda
output should be true or false.
8. The purpose, content and effectiveness of enemy
propaganda; the strength and effects of an expose; and the nature
of current propaganda campaigns determine whether enemy
propaganda should be ignored or refuted.
9. Credibility, intelligence, and the possible effects of
communicating determine whether propaganda materials should be
censored.
10. Material from enemy propaganda may be utilized in
operations when it helps diminish that enemy's prestige or lends
support to the propagandist's own objective.
11. Black rather than white propaganda may be employed
when the latter is less credible or produces undesirable effects.
12. Propaganda may be facilitated by leaders with prestige.
13. Propaganda must be carefully timed.
a. The communication must reach the audience ahead of
competing propaganda.
b. A propaganda campaign must begin at the optimum
moment
c. A propaganda theme must be repeated, but not beyond
some point of diminishing effectiveness
14. Propaganda must label events and people with distinctive
phrases or slogans.
a. They must evoke desired responses which the audience
previously possesses
b. They must be capable of being easily learned
c. They must be utilized again and again, but only in
appropriate situations
d. They must be boomerang-proof
15. Propaganda to the home front must prevent the raising of
false hopes which can be blasted by future events.
16. Propaganda to the home front must create an optimum
anxiety level.
a. Propaganda must reinforce anxiety concerning the
consequences of defeat
b. Propaganda must diminish anxiety (other than concerning
the consequences of defeat) which is too high and which cannot be
reduced by people themselves
17. Propaganda to the home front must diminish the impact of
frustration.
a. Inevitable frustrations must be anticipated
b. Inevitable frustrations must be placed in perspective
18. Propaganda must facilitate the displacement of aggression
by specifying the targets for hatred.
19. Propaganda cannot immediately affect strong
counter-tendencies; instead it must offer some form of action or
diversion, or both.