This Is Propaganda

David Shields (best-selling author / filmmaker) joins us to dissect the brutal reality of politics as performance. We dive into Trump’s media mastery, Luigi Mangione’s provocative symbolism, and why the Democrats are stuck playing an obsolete game. Be sure to check out David’s latest work, How We Got Here, a film and book companion. This is DoubleThink, conversations inspired by the themes of This Is Propaganda. If you haven’t yet, please listen to the Webby Award season one of the pod. — BRINK media group is re-imagining how brands, causes and artists compete in the oversaturated attention marketplace through original productions and branded entertainment. Website: thisispropaganda.show Instagram: instagram.com/thisispropagandashow Email: propaganda@brink.com — Cohosts: Josh Belhumeur and Malcolm Critcher

Unpacking how the Culture War feeds on emotional shortcuts, why complexity and nuance is so hard to embrace, and what it means to navigate a society driven by flattened ideas and radicalized identities. This is DoubleThink, conversations inspired by the themes of This Is Propaganda. If you haven’t yet, please listen to the Webby Award season one of the pod. — BRINK media group is re-imagining how brands, causes and artists compete in the oversaturated attention marketplace through original productions and branded entertainment. Website: thisispropaganda.show Instagram: instagram.com/thisispropagandashow Email: propaganda@brink.com — Cohosts: Josh Belhumeur and Malcolm Critcher

Is art propaganda? Is propaganda art? A free flowing conversation about a spectrum that exists between the two and how modern consumer propaganda might benefit from leaning heavier into art. This is DoubleThink, conversations inspired by the themes of This Is Propaganda. If you haven’t yet, please listen to the Webby Award season one of the pod. — BRINK media group is re-imagining how brands, causes and artists compete in the oversaturated attention marketplace through original productions and branded entertainment. Website: thisispropaganda.show Instagram: instagram.com/thisispropagandashow Email: propaganda@brink.com — Cohosts: Josh Belhumeur and Malcolm Critcher

In this first episode of DoubleThink, Malcolm and Josh revisit the “vibe shift” of the US election when President Biden dropped and the world got coconut-pilled by Kamala Harris, along with predictions of what comes next. DoubleThink is conversations inspired by the themes of This Is Propaganda. If you haven’t yet, please listen to the Webby Award season one of the pod. — BRINK media group is re-imagining how brands, causes and artists compete in the oversaturated attention marketplace through original productions and branded entertainment. Website: thisispropaganda.show Instagram: instagram.com/thisispropagandashow Email: propaganda@brink.com — Cohosts: Josh Belhumeur and Malcolm Critcher

Social media creates an environment where propaganda becomes our default mode of expression. Because everyone is a brand. — BRINK media group is re-imagining how brands, causes and artists compete in the oversaturated attention marketplace through original productions and branded entertainment. Website: thisispropaganda.show Instagram: instagram.com/thisispropagandashow Email: propaganda@brink.com — Cohosts: Josh Belhumeur and Malcolm Critcher Story Editor: Matt Decker Producers: Jaclyn Hubersberger and Reed Chandler Additional Audio Engineering: Paul Injeti Original music: Josh Belhumeur — “Big Red Boot.” MSCHF. https://mschf.com/shop/big-red-boot/ “Black Panther (soundtrack).” Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Panther_(soundtrack) Bradley, Bill. 2022. “US Advertising Sales Projected to Pass $300 Billion for First Time Ever in 2022.” Adweek. https://www.adweek.com/convergent-tv/us-advertising-sales-projected-to-pass-300-billion-for-first-time-ever-in-2022/ Ferere, Cassell. 2021. “Brand Blasphemy? What Nike’s Move To Sue MSCHF For Lil Nas X ‘Satan Shoes’ Tells Us About Pop Culture.” Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/cassellferere/2021/03/30/nikes-move-to-sue-mschf-for-its-lil-nas-x-satan-shoes-tells-us-about-pop-culture/?sh=58f905dc55fc Huddleston Jr., Tom, and Zachary Green. 2022. “Liquid Death CEO Mike Cessario: We chose 'the dumbest possible name' for water.” CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/26/liquid-death-ceo-mike-cessario-we-chose-the-dumbest-possible-name-for-water.html Museum of Broadcast Communications Encyclopedia of Television. 1997. “Colgate Comedy Hour, The.” Television Academy Interviews. https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/shows/colgate-comedy-hour-the Silbert, Jake. 2021. “MSCHF's At All Costs Clothing Line Plays With Prices.” Highsnobiety. https://www.highsnobiety.com/p/mschf-at-all-costs-clothing-line/ Silbert, Jake. 2021. “MSCHF's Guns 2 Swords took The Met Gala, Thanks to Grimes.” Highsnobiety. https://www.highsnobiety.com/p/mschf-guns-2-swords/ Suess, Jeff. 2017. “Our history: P&G put the 'soap' in 'soap opera.'” Cincinnati Enquirer. https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2017/10/04/our-history-p-g-put-soap-soap-opera/732149001/ Whitten, Sarah. 2023. “Barbie is highest-grossing domestic film release in 2023.” CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/24/barbie-is-highest-grossing-domestic-film-release-in-2023.html “Your Hit Parade.”  Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Your_Hit_Parade

Our discomfort with propaganda puts us on a quest for authenticity, but do we even know what that means anymore? — BRINK media group is re-imagining how brands, causes and artists compete in the oversaturated attention marketplace through original productions and branded entertainment. Website: thisispropaganda.show Instagram: instagram.com/thisispropagandashow Email: propaganda@brink.com — Cohosts: Josh Belhumeur and Malcolm Critcher Story Editor: Matt Decker Producers: Jaclyn Hubersberger and Reed Chandler Additional Audio Engineering: Paul Injeti Original music: Josh Belhumeur — Dember, Greg. 2018. “Eleven Metamodern Methods in the Arts.” Medium. https://medium.com/what-is-metamodern/after-postmodernism-eleven-metamodern-methods-in-the-arts-767f7b646cae Dreith, Ben. 2023. “Siegel+Gale creates "authentic" branding for US Army.” Dezeen. https://www.dezeen.com/2023/04/06/us-army-branding-siegelgale/ Flight, Thomas. 2023. “Why Do Movies Feel So Different Now?” YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xEi8qg266g McPherson, Steve. 2013. “Image Is Nothing: Grant Hill and His Amazing '90s Sprite Ads.” Grantland. https://grantland.com/the-triangle/image-is-nothing-grant-hill-and-his-amazing-90s-sprite-ads/ “OK Soda: The strange, nihilistic Nineties soda that only lasted seven months.” 2022. MeTV. https://www.metv.com/stories/ok-soda-the-strange-nihilistic-nineties-soda-that-only-lasted-seven-months Resnick, Brian. 2017. “Trump supporters know Trump lies. They just don't care.” Vox. https://www.vox.com/2017/7/10/15928438/fact-checks-political-psychology Salvanto, Anthony, Kabir Khanna, Jennifer De Pinto, and Fred Backus. 2023. “CBS News poll finds Trump's big lead grows, as GOP voters dismiss indictments.” CBS News. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-poll-indictments-2023-08-20/ Schulman, Michael. 2014. “Everything is Going to Be OK.” Believer Magazine. https://www.thebeliever.net/everything-is-going-to-be-ok/ Sorgatz, Rex. 2022. “25 Highest-Rated Shows of the '90s.” TV Insider. https://www.tvinsider.com/list/highest-rated-shows-of-the-90s/#show2 “Stress in America 2022: Concerned for the future, beset by inflation.” 2022. American Psychological Association. https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2022/concerned-future-inflation Wallace, David F. 2000. “David Foster Wallace on John McCain: ‘The Weasel, Twelve Monkeys, and the Shrub.’” Rolling Stone. https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/david-foster-wallace-on-john-mccain-the-weasel-twelve-monkeys-and-the-shrub-194272/

Propaganda helps usher in a new form of tribalism and the modern culture war. — BRINK media group is re-imagining how brands, causes and artists compete in the oversaturated attention marketplace through original productions and branded entertainment. Website: thisispropaganda.show Instagram: instagram.com/thisispropagandashow Email: propaganda@brink.com — Cohosts: Josh Belhumeur and Malcolm Critcher Story Editor: Matt Decker Producers: Jaclyn Hubersberger and Reed Chandler Additional Audio Engineering: Paul Injeti Original music: Josh Belhumeur — Bernays, Edward L. 2004. Propaganda. Ig Publishing. “#BrandsGetReal: Brands Creating Change in the Conscious Consumer Era.” 2019. Sprout Social. https://sproutsocial.com/insights/data/brands-creating-change/ Brooks, Khristopher J. 2023. “Ron DeSantis threatens Anheuser-Busch over Bud Light marketing campaign with Dylan Mulvaney.” CBS News. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/florida-ron-desantis-bud-light-dylan-mulvaney-anheuser-busch/ “Corporate Social Responsibility: A Brief History.” Association of Corporate Citizenship Professionals. https://accp.org/resources/csr-resources/accp-insights-blog/corporate-social-responsibility-brief-history/ Disney Parks. 2022. “Write The Next Chapter Of Your Life With Disney | Storyliving by Disney.” YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsvA8ZkdL4Q Dockterman, Eliana. 2016. “Budweiser Just Renamed Its Beer 'America.'” Time. https://time.com/4324384/budweiser-america-rename-beer/ “The Dove Self-Esteem Project.” Dove. https://www.dove.com/us/en/dove-self-esteem-project.html Ellul, Jacques. 1965. Propaganda: The Formation of Men's Attitudes. Vintage Books. https://ratical.org/ratville/AoS/Propaganda-JE-Vintage1973.pdf Etcoff, Nancy, Susie Orbach, Jennifer Scott, and Heidi D'Agostino. 2004. “THE REAL TRUTH ABOUT BEAUTY: A GLOBAL REPORT”  Findings of the Global Study on Women, Beauty, and Well-Being.” Club of Amsterdam. https://www.clubofamsterdam.com/contentarticles/52%20Beauty/dove_white_paper_final.pdf Farhi, Paul. 1991. “THE ORIGINAL SPIN DOCTOR.” The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1991/11/23/the-original-spin-doctor/109f782a-5964-4d99-94f7-b4b666bc1f74/ “15 years of Axe Effect: the world's most sexist advertising campaign.” 2011. This is not ADVERTISING. https://thisisnotadvertising.wordpress.com/2011/11/07/15-years-of-axe-effect-the-worlds-most-sexist-advertising-campaign/ Giardina, Henry. 2023. “Bud Light Has Always Been Super Queer, Actually.” INTO more. https://www.intomore.com/culture/bud-light-has-always-been-super-queer-actually/ Klee, Miles. 2023. “‘Woke’ Companies Don’t Go Broke, and the Profits Prove It.” Rolling Stone. https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/woke-companies-broke-profits-1234710724/ Luttrell, Andy. 2016. “Cognitive Dissonance Theory: A Crash Course.” YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Y17YaZRRvY “Making a Difference in Racial Equity.” 2020. Walmart.https://corporate.walmart.com/news/2020/06/05/making-a-difference-in-racial-equity Morel, Lindsey. 2009. “The Effectiveness of the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty in Terms of Society and the Brand.” SURFACE at Syracuse University. https://surface.syr.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1479&context=honors_capstone Olson, Alexandra, Kate Brumback, and Matt Ott. 2020. “'A slap in the face:' Goya faces boycott over Trump praise.” AP News. https://apnews.com/article/02dc77e29f848bebbc4e1434df056864 Perjurer, Kevin. 2022. “Disney Channel's Theme: A History Mystery.” YouTube: Defunctland. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_rjBWmc1iQ “21st Century Ad Campaigns: See all Top 15 Winners and eBook.” 2015. Ad Age. https://adage.com/article/news/advertising-age-s-21st-century-ads-top-15-ad-campaigns/296525 Wamsley, Laurel. 2023. “In a new video, Dylan Mulvaney says Bud Light never reached out to her amid backlash.” NPR. https://www.npr.org/2023/06/30/1185356673/trans-influencer-dylan-mulvaney-bud-light-backlash Youn, Soo. 2018. “Nike sales booming after Colin Kaepernick ad, invalidating critics.” ABC News. https://abcnews.go.com/Business/nike-sales-booming-kaepernick-ad-invalidating-critics/story?id=59957137

Previous propaganda techniques struggled to work with the boomer generation in a period of social unrest – until Madison Avenue had a breakthrough. — BRINK media group is re-imagining how brands, causes and artists compete in the oversaturated attention marketplace through original productions and branded entertainment. Website: thisispropaganda.show Instagram: instagram.com/thisispropagandashow Email: propaganda@brink.com — Cohosts: Josh Belhumeur and Malcolm Critcher Story Editor: Matt Decker Producers: Jaclyn Hubersberger and Reed Chandler Additional Audio Engineering: Paul Injeti Original music: Josh Belhumeur — Beens, Robert E. 2021. “We must stop the sale, manipulation, or theft of our data.” Fast Company. https://www.fastcompany.com/90597583/data-privacy-startpage-founder Bernays, Edward L. 2004. Propaganda. Ig Publishing. Curtis, Adam. 2020. “The Century of the Self - BBC Documentary (2002).” YouTube: Gnosis Documentaries https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jymMjNc0igI “First Measured Century: Interview: Daniel Yankelovich.” PBS. https://www.pbs.org/fmc/interviews/yankelovich.htm Greenberg, Udi. “Freud and the Miseries of Politics.” The New Republic. https://newrepublic.com/article/165265/freud-miseries-politics-samuel-moyn-civilizations-discontents-review Hampton, Fred, and Black Panther Party. “I Am A Revolutionary” speech. “Human Potential Movement.”  Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Potential_Movement “Mechanisms of Social Movement Suppression – Defend Dissent.” Oregon State University. https://open.oregonstate.education/defenddissent/chapter/social-movement-suppression/ Munteanu, Cătălin C., and Andreea Pagalea. 2014. “Brands as a Mean of Consumer Self-expression and Desired Personal Lifestyle.” Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 109 (January): pgs. 103-107. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877042813050593 “1980s: Commerce.”  Encyclopedia.com. https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/culture-magazines/1980s-commerce Rafferty, John P. “America's Boomer Generation.” Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/story/americas-boomer-generation “7 Lessons From the Golden Age of Advertising That Still Apply.” MoreBusiness.com. https://www.morebusiness.com/lessons-from-the-golden-age-of-advertising/ “Statistical Abstract of the United States 1982-83.”  U.S. Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/history/pdf/1978tvsets.pdf

Following the Great War, Edward Bernays and his contemporaries used the power of propaganda to forever change marketing, and all of Western culture. — BRINK media group is re-imagining how brands, causes and artists compete in the oversaturated attention marketplace through original productions and branded entertainment. Website: thisispropaganda.show Instagram: instagram.com/thisispropagandashow Email: propaganda@brink.com — Cohosts: Josh Belhumeur and Malcolm Critcher Story Editor: Matt Decker Producers: Jaclyn Hubersberger and Reed Chandler Additional Audio Engineering: Paul Injeti Original music: Josh Belhumeur — Ambar, Saladin.  “Woodrow Wilson: Foreign Affairs.” Miller Center. https://millercenter.org/president/wilson/foreign-affairs Barnes, Bart. “PUBLIC RELATIONS PIONEER EDWARD L. BERNAYS DIES.” Washington Post, March 10, 1995. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1995/03/10/public-relations-pioneer-edward-l-bernays-dies/985793a8-4bb2-4a98-b54f-7efdf892f5f6/ Beens, Robert E. 2021. “Companies are selling, manipulating, or stealing data. It’s time to do something about it.” Fast Company. https://www.fastcompany.com/90597583/data-privacy-startpage-founder Bernays, Edward L. 2004. Propaganda. Ig Publishing. “The Brutal Realities of World War I.” 2020. Facing History & Ourselves. https://www.facinghistory.org/resource-library/brutal-realities-world-war-i Buffalo News. “EDWARD L. BERNAYS, 103, DIES; WAS PIONEER IN PUBLIC RELATIONS.” March 10, 1995. https://buffalonews.com/news/edward-l-bernays-103-dies-was-pioneer-in-public-relations/article_53e7d43b-e323-5c8b-a682-32925d29d061.html Curtis, Adam. 2020. “The Century of the Self - BBC Documentary (2002).” YouTube: Gnosis Documentaries. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jymMjNc0igI Daly, Christopher B. 2017. “How Woodrow Wilson's propaganda machine changed American journalism.” The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/how-woodrow-wilsons-propaganda-machine-changed-american-journalism-76270 “EAA: Timeline.”  Duke University Libraries. https://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/scriptorium/eaa/timeline.html “Edward Bernays – the Father of 'Spin'” 2017. Global Policy Institute. https://gpilondon.com/publications/edward-bernays-the-father-of-spin Fedewa, Joe. 2023. “Here's Why You'll Never See Movie Villains Use iPhones.” How-To Geek. https://www.howtogeek.com/832279/heres-why-youll-never-see-movie-villains-use-iphones/ Greenberg, Udi. 2022. “Freud and the Miseries of Politics.” The New Republic. https://newrepublic.com/article/165265/freud-miseries-politics-samuel-moyn-civilizations-discontents-review Gregersen, Erik. 2023. “Edward Bernays | Propaganda, Public Relations & Advertising.” Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Edward-Bernays Hatcher, Dan. 2015. “The Father of Spin: Edward L. Bernays and the Birth of Public Relations” by Larry Tye.” The Siding Spring. https://thesidingspring.com/2015/09/04/the-father-of-spin-edward-l-bernays-and-the-birth-of-public-relations-by-larry-tye/ Held, Lisa. 2009. “Psychoanalysis shapes consumer culture.” American Psychological Association. https://www.apa.org/monitor/2009/12/consumer “History of advertising.”  Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_advertising. The Independent. 1995. “OBITUARY: Edward Bernays” March 22, 1995. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-edward-bernays-1612237.html Lubin, Gus. 2013. “Birth of Consumer Culture.” Business Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/birth-of-consumer-culture-2013-2 “Milestones: 1914–1920 - The League of Nations, 1920.” Office of the Historian. https://history.state.gov/milestones/1914-1920/league The New York Times. “Edward Bernays, 'Father of Public Relations' And Leader in Opinion Making, Dies at 103.” March 10, 1995. https://www.nytimes.com/1995/03/10/obituaries/edward-bernays-father-public-relations-leader-opinion-making-dies-103.html NPR. 1995. “Edward Bernays.” March 11, 1995. https://www.npr.org/1995/03/11/1005340/edward-bernays O'Toole, Patricia. 2018. How the US Government Used Propaganda to Sell Americans on World War I | HISTORY. https://www.history.com/news/world-war-1-propaganda-woodrow-wilson-fake-news “Purity, Pornography, and Eugenics in the 1930s (Parts I & II).” 2022. Textbook History. https://textbookhistory.org/purity-pornography-and-eugenics-in-the-1930s/ Reeve, Michael. 2018. “Smoking and Cigarette Consumption | International Encyclopedia of the First World War (WW1).” 1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War. https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/smoking_and_cigarette_consumption Smith, Erika C. 2018. “Organization of War Economies (USA).” 1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War. https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/organization_of_war_economies_usa Statement by the President in Address to the Nation. 2001. George W. Bush White House. Tye, Larry.  “The Father of Spin.” The New York Times. https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/first/t/tye-spin.html “Women and smoking.”  Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_and_smoking#cite_note-15 “World War I casualties.”  U.S. Census Bureau.https://www.census.gov/history/pdf/reperes112018.pdf  

Creative Directors and cultural theorists Josh & Malcolm uncover the marketing profession’s delusions about the origins, techniques and cultural impact of the work they do. Follow them through an immersive narrative investigating how propaganda became the foundation of all consumer marketing, its omnipresence and evolution across generations of media, and the consequences we are facing today. You’ll never think of propaganda – or marketing – the same way again.