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-q2/2016-05 folder.
The ads not only highlighted police brutality but attacked officers as people. P(1)0003526 discussed an off-duty officer who went bonkers when faced with a parking violation:
P(1)0003527 linked to an article about an off-duty police officer that got into a fight with a teenager:
Both ads pointed to the behavior of officers on off hours. They seek to plant the seed that it’s not just the institution that cannot be trusted, but the individuals as well. A subtle way of doing this was to point out how much work it was for them to find an example of a good cop. P(1)0003543:
Notice how they talk about “their research” and refer to “we” in multiple incidents? This is to make themselves sound like a large authority on the subject, and build trust in what they tell their readers. It’s the little things like that which helped gain followers who didn’t question the posts these groups presented to them.
THIS IS AN OPEN THREAD. Take care, and have a fantastic New Year!