Blessing Bags Infographic:
https://www.canva.com/design/DAC2_cw-W0E/share?role=EDITOR&token=b_kl9goXFwKqlmTYXPfXWA&utm_content=DAC2_cw-W0E&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link&utm_source=sharebutton
Blessing Bags Screencast:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_H_6uygT19k&feature=youtu.be
While looking for a campaign to work with from DoSomething.org, I really wanted to find a campaign that I could relate to. I came across the Blessing Bags Campaign and instantly knew that this was the cause I wanted to create my propaganda mini-campaign for because I know how important this is.
Our country has more homeless people than shelters can handle, which often leaves many people unsheltered. These helpless people include men, women, and even children. Projecthome.org told us, “On a single night in January 2016, there were 549,928 people experiencing homelessness in the United States; 68 percent sheltered and 32 percent unsheltered. 35,686 were unaccompanied children and youth; 89 percent (31,862) were between the ages of 18 and 24, and 11 percent (3,824) were under age 18.” These people are lacking basic living necessities, including food and toiletries. The Blessing Bag Campaign is aiming the help the people lacking these items by encouraging people to create bags containing nonperishable food items and toiletries. The campaign is then asking people to find a homeless shelter in their area to donate the bags full of goodies to.
These bags can be filled with a variety of things, most of which can be found at the dollar store. Some examples of nonperishable food that could be included in a blessing bag would be canned soup or tuna, crackers, granola bars, and water. Examples of useful toiletries to include would be toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, tissues, deodorant, Band-Aid’s, and any other item you’d find useful on a daily basis.
Throughout my two pieces of propaganda, I really wanted to emphasize how easy these bags are to make and how they can be cheap or even free if you collect donations. This made my campaign relatable to almost everyone, because regardless of your age or financial situation, almost everyone has the ability to create blessing bags to help those less fortunate.
This semester we have learned how effective propaganda is when it uses the technique of activating strong emotions. This is why I made sure to do within my pieces of propaganda. The first emotion that I aimed to evoke in both my infographic and screencast was sympathy. In my infographic, I included statistics about the homeless people, specifically statistics about homeless children. I know that adults, especially parents, who see this statistic, would want to do anything in their power to help out, and would be moved towards my goal of convincing them to make blessing bags. My screencast video also activates the emotion of sympathy when I showed pictures of helpless homeless people. These images are sad to see and really move people and make them want to help. My propaganda pieces also triggered the emotion of hope, because I showed people how simple it is to create blessing bags and how much they can help homeless people in need.
I also used the technique of simplifying information and ideas. For my infographic, I made sure that the layout was simple enough for all ages to follow. I also used pictures to help younger viewers piece together my goal of inspiring them to make some of these bags. I also simplified ideas by using headings on each panel, to break up the words and to separate the information. The information in my screencast video was simplified because of the pictures and footage that I used, and because I chose to put important key words like “homeless” and “hope” in text in the video.
Edward Bernays taught me how important the use of propaganda is while trying to promote a charity or cause. I knew that the Blessing Bag Campaign needed the help of propaganda, because Bernays said, “Whatever of social importance is done today, whether in politics, finance, manufacture, agriculture, charity, education, or other fields, must be done with the help of propaganda” (Bernays 48).
The goal of both of my pieces of propaganda was obviously to get people to join this movement and start creating blessing bags of their own to donate to shelters all over the country. I wanted people to see my propaganda and to feel bad for the less fortunate because of the statistics about these people and the footage of their helpless faces and living situations. I wanted to make sure that I emphasized the fact that it was super easy for them to make a big difference by donating blessing bags.
Over the course of this semester, I have learned more about propaganda than I thought I would ever know about the topic. This information was especially useful in helping me create a propaganda mini-campaign to help contribute to the Blessing Bags Campaign on DoSomething.org. I hope that everything that I learned in COM416 this past semester allowed me to create effective propaganda pieces, and that people who see them will be moved to join the cause and make their own blessing bags!
Works Cited:
“Blessing Bags.” DoSomething.org | Volunteer for Social Change, www.dosomething.org/us/campaigns/blessing-bags#know.
“HUD: Family Homelessness Continues to Rise.” VHFA.org - Vermont Housing Finance Agency, 3 Aug. 2010
“Pack A Care Kit.” Portland Rescue Mission, 14 June 2017, www.portlandrescuemission.org/get-involved/learn/pack-a-care-kit/.“10 Minutes: Homelessness in America.” YouTube, YouTube, 4 Dec. 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzdT390OCz4.
“PROPAGANDA AND ITS TECHNIQUES.” Mind Over Media: Analyzing Contemporary Propaganda, propaganda.mediaeducationlab.com/techniques/.Envistabuzz. “Envista Cartoon The Neighborhood.” YouTube, YouTube, 8 Mar. 2011, www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oi9QJyRr_Ds.
TheMannyChannel. “Caiden Helping Homeless (ORIGINAL VIDEO).” YouTube, YouTube, 28 Sept. 2014, www.youtube.com/watch?v=yP_5DLPbU6c.
BuzzFeedVideo. “Can You Watch This Without Smiling?” YouTube, YouTube, 4 Apr. 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8OmSWxF6h8.
CharB2002. “How to Make Affordable DIY Blessing Bags For The Homeless & Less Fortunate- Dollar Tree Haul.” YouTube, YouTube, 25 Nov. 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-jrPy46L1w.
“10 Minutes: Homelessness in America.” YouTube, YouTube, 4 Dec. 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzdT390OCz4.