Cold War Blog

The primary rhetorical appeal of this ad is pathos. The dark red and black colors of the background and text are meant to distill a sense of fear into the reader. This disgruntled looking employee looking disgustedly at the poor quality paper towels makes the audience subconsciously think that there is something wrong with the towels he is using. The large, bold, red letters "Bolsheviks" is meant to further instill a sense of fear, fear of communism. Whilst these emotions are running through the audience, ScotTissue towels then attempts to capture the reader into buying there product. They do this by saying that the inferior towels of other brands leads to unrest in the working class. It is implied that this slippery slope will lead America straight to communism unless you begin buying these higher quality towels. -LJ Brooks

The thing about propaganda is that they tend to focus on solely creating a pathetic reaction within their audience. They do not have a set logical reasoning behind them. However, this does not mean that the poster does not intend to appeal to logos. Instead of supporting its argument, this poster has just enough gaps where it’s audience will create their own reasoning to support the poster's message that communism is a threat. Simply put, the poster will allow its audience’s strong preconceptions towards communism create an appeal to logos for them. Though the general American public might not have been heavily informed on the exact circumstances, they knew that communism was this terrible thing. American Patriotism would not them believe anything else. Knowing this, the creators of this poster set out to create a very effective appeal to pathos. They knew that their audience would supply the reasoning. That is why propaganda is so effective, they can say whatever they want and let...

There are several logical appeals present in this text; the most powerful are closely tied to its appeal to the strong American sense of anti-communism. This particular appeal aims to justify the ad's bold claim that your washroom is "breeding bolsheviks". It does so by explaining why poor paper towels causes proletarian revolts: lesser paper towels are uncomfortable, and unsanitary, two factors that are proven to lead to discomfort and socialist tendencies. The ad goes on to explain how this is a simple example of "important courtesies", just as important as providing air and light. This is, after all, why those Russian reds overthrew their czar: the paper towels in the factory restrooms were horridly inadequate! In addition to this obvious appeal to the 20th century American businessman--single-handedly freezing communism's advance was a mighty good bar story!--the ad makes use of logical appeals in other ways as well. The ad touts the soft, pliable feel o...

The credibility of the author is proven several different ways in this advertisement. The first comes from the publisher, Scot Tissue Towels. This is a well known, respected American company, an expert in the field of workplace hygiene, and one that ought to know the unwanted side effects of improper hand drying. There is also the fact that this was an ad warning against the communist threat, in a time where any such warning was immediately accepted as truth, with little thought as to the sensibility of the argument. Do poor quality paper towels really cause workers to succumb to the red tide? Who knows, but better safe than sorry! The ad also sports examples of well known, well run, major American Corporations, such as RCA and National Lead. Clearly, the deciding difference, the major factor affecting the success of National Lead vs. your friendly neighborhood lead supplier, was the brand of paper towel used. Switch to ScotTissue, and BAM! immediate profit, and the elimination of the ...

The "If Russia Should Win" propaganda poster has no known author, so the credibility of the true author is unknown. Therefore, the general author is the United States. During these times of heightened tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union, many of Americans feared the Soviet Union. Consequently, the majority of the American people naturally thought of the United States as a credible country that is trying to survive against the Soviet Union. Alternatively, one could argue that the author is the film company Paramount Pictures is the author, which today is still a reputable company producing many top notch films. However, it is unlikely people were focusing on that, especially since the text mentioning Paramount was even smaller than the description at the bottom of the propaganda piece. Alex Ratliff

The main argument of  the ScotTissue towel ad was to promote the use of ScotTissue towels and degrade other towels brands. ScotTissue is a company, so above all else they want people to buy their product. To do so they capitalize on the current fear of America, communism. Through the use of communism they hope to frighten there audience into purchasing these particular towels. They also attempt to discredit other towel companies. They do this by stating that the other towels are inferior and will make your workers unhappy. Although not explicitly stated, it is implied that this is a slippery slope towards your employees becoming communists. To solidify their claims that their towels are superior, they use some statistics, showing how although the actual towel roll is more expensive, these are actually cost-effective. ScotTissue towels use the fear of communism  as well as statistics to prove that their towels are superior to all other towel brands. -LJ Brooks