Beyond Posters and Slogans: Propaganda’s Modern Digital Evolution

November 20, 2025

By: Sabrina Roach

In case you haven’t noticed, the world is in the midst of a technological revolution. A box in your house is always listening to you. You can live out your dreams of recording people without their consent with the new Meta smart glasses. And of course, AI: there are AI-generated and AI-centric ads galore, from the subway to your television screen. We are truly emerging into a new golden age.

But maybe you haven’t noticed the world is changing; it is getting harder to notice when a piece of media is AI-generated. This situation is called “information asymmetry,” or when one party has more information than the other. Asymmetric information makes it easier to manipulate a consumer or a citizen when all the players don’t know the rules of the game. This becomes particularly troubling when applied to broader marketing contexts.

It begs the question, however, what this asymmetry means for a phenomenon called propaganda, a tool that has always tried its hand at deceiving the public, starting wars, and shaping political opinion.

What is Propaganda?

Propaganda is, for lack of a better term, OG marketing. Alike to marketing, it is frustratingly difficult to purely define what propaganda is. Does propaganda seek “bad” ends? Must propaganda always try to “trick”? Must propaganda always be used in “controversial” contexts? Of course, any of the above questions could be applied to marketing in general.

Courtesy of the Library of Congress

However, our trusty historians at the American Historical Association, after a lot of equivocating, give us our definition: “propaganda has to do with any ideas and beliefs that are intentionally propagated…it attempts to reach a goal by making use of words and word substitutes (pictures, drawings, etc.)...propaganda range from the selfish, deceitful, and subversive to the honest and aboveboard. It can be concealed or open, or a combination of emotional and logical appeals.” Standard examples are the “I Want YOU” Uncle Sam poster, the “We Can Do It!” Rosie the Riveter and other historical documents are displayed in APUSH classes across the country.

Courtesy of the National Archives Catalog

Regardless of multifaceted definitions, it is important to address the negative connotation of “propaganda.” Our wise historians leave us with some simple advice: “Don’t be afraid of it.” Use the lessons learned in any elementary school digital safety class: stop and consider the source and the message behind an appeal for your attention.

The History of Propaganda

Alright, now we know what propaganda is. But, where exactly does it come from?

Contrary to popular belief, propaganda did not simply begin in WWI. Perhaps you thought you knew that, but our aforementioned historians know better. Propaganda functioned, though unnamed, all the way back in Ancient Greece. Contrary to popular belief, Athenians did not use TikTok and/or Instagram Reels to express their feelings. Books, plays, and assemblies were rooted in the beginnings of propaganda. Propaganda flourished throughout history. The Spanish Armada’s defeat in 1588 created the mystery of the “Protestant Wind.” The Catholic Church dabbled. Independence movements, including the American Revolution and the French Revolution, used propaganda to rouse public support.

Propaganda had (in some cases, has) an intensely bizarre job: appeal to the public to go to war, putting down moral values about murder, and picking up a gun. Modern complaints about consumer culture and the role marketing plays in this increasingly materialistic world pale in comparison to the way in which propaganda warps the public. It is fascinating, in a horrifying kind of way, the actions mankind is willing to undertake when convinced by rudimentary propaganda pieces. Or, of course, the actions mankind is willing to undertake, justified coincidentally by propaganda. 

Why It’s Different…

Propaganda in the digital age is singing a different song. Radio is croaking from the grave. Cable television, and the beloved jingles from that age, are falling out of favor. Influencers, companies, and politicians alike are finding new ways to root into and around your brain. 

During one of my “on” phases of my on-again, off-again relationship with TikTok, I happened across Attorney General (NC) Jeff Jackson’s (previously in the House of Representatives) TikTok page. His videos, framed simply with a chest-up close-up, entail him explaining current political events straight to the camera. Regardless of where you fall on the political pendulum, it is a shocking phenomenon for a member of Congress to stare out of your phone and into your soul as he calmly explains his political affiliations and motivations. 

Whether you view this as "deceitful" or “honest” propaganda, it’s working. Many politicians have followed suit, posting clips of their especially clever moments on the Internet. The comments are as comments on the internet usually go, but generally respond favorably to the transparency. Jeff Jackson has 2.2 million TikTok followers, 40.4 million likes, and a successful Attorney General (NC) campaign to show for it. 

Politicians haven’t stopped at simply accepting the short-form video aspect of the technological revolution. In October of 2025, the New York Times ran an interesting article on President Donald Trump’s use of AI-propaganda. This propaganda (again, the verity of referring to this as such is up to interpretation) is in the form of “slightly-off” (AI-generated) animated GIFs. Trump as an NFL player; Trump as the Pope; Trump arresting Barack Obama. All have a heavy irony to them; an undercurrent, unspoken, that these published GIFs are so ridiculous that their subliminal messaging would never be taken seriously. 

Courtesy of Nahrizul Kadri via Unsplash

But there are, however subliminal, messages in these GIFs. Let’s go back to the idea of asymmetric information. It’s true that now, the general public (which I am assessing using myself as a benchmark, which has its faults), does not view these AI-images as the truth. They are simply too “off” or simply too far-fetched to be true. But we are rapidly approaching a digital age in which fake AI-images will appear real, perhaps a little far-fetched, but enough to be passed off as truth. 

Whether “honest” or “deceitful,” modern propaganda’s power is growing. Propaganda has always tried to prod people in certain directions. Rapidly, we may never notice we’re being moved. 

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Sabrina Roach is a freshman at NYU Stern studying marketing and economics. She is passionate about product history, entertainment and consumer behavior, and her love-hate relationship with Adobe InDesign.