Propaganda Watch: Russian Social Media Ads–6/8/19

Russian President Vladimir Putin superimposed into a Russian Flag. Image by Lenny Ghoul.

This is part of an ongoing series where I review some of the ads purchased by the Russians. In doing so I hope we can get a better understanding of what they were trying to do, and how to recognize it the next time we’re faced with propaganda.

If you want to follow along, the ads can all be downloaded here. All of today’s ads can be found in the 2015-q4/2015-12 folder.

December saw some…interesting experiments with targeted marketing, especially within their Tea Party ads. For example, if you’re a Generation Xer from Texas between the ages of 25 and 65, ad p(1)0000592 recommends you give guns for great last-minute Christmas presents. After all, nothing says the holidays like “gun power, self-confidence, freedom!”

There were also a couple aimed at fans of Ted Cruz. I don’t know about you, but when I think Ted Cruz, I think of sexy patriotic lips. Okay, maybe I don’t, but ad p(1)0004064 did:

Going in a different direction, ad p(1)0004066 appealed to Ted Cruz fans by making a collage of some of their favorite images and icons. One of these things is not like the other….

For me, one of the most interesting (and entertaining) parts of this has been to see Americana through the eyes of Russian culture. I don’t know if they’re going to get more accurate or not by the time the ads end, but it probably won’t be boring.

THIS IS AN OPEN THREAD. Have a fantastic Saturday!

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