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 2016-q1/2016-02 folder.
Some ads supported organized demonstrations. A group called Proud of the Blues had organized a protest at the NFL headquarters February 16th to protest Beyonce’s controversial Super Bowl performance. They even had an Eventbrite page set up. Ad p(1)0000636 asked supporters of “MericanFury” to “stop the chaos” and attend:
Since the Russians aimed to pit one group against another, it should be no surprise that ad p(1)0004102 encouraged people to “stop the white privilege” and support the counter-protest:
Ad p(1)0004104 had a similar sentiment but with a different image:
In the end, no protesters showed up, and only a handful of bewildered counterprotesters did. It is assumed Beyonce had no knowledge of the Russian shenanigans at the time.
THIS IS AN OPEN THREAD. Have a lovely Sunday.