About The Blog

Thank you for reading our blog. We are undergraduate students at the University of Maryland studying rhetoric in America during the 1960’s. Our blog, Marketing to The Nuclear Family, is the culmination of our substantial research and analysis of rhetorical tactics used throughout the Cold War, specifically, the use of marketing toward the youth in the American and Soviet societies. Having watched cartoons and read comics as children, we found it particularly fascinating that these means of entertainment connoted highly politicized, propaganda-filled messages to the children consuming them during the Cold War. We felt compelled to explore the root causes, ideologies, and effectiveness of these tactics and we hope readers feel further informed on these topics as they read our blog.

The texts we explored, the Captain America “Commie Smasher” series, and the Soviet The Millionaire cartoon, although different genres, both correlate the supposed evils of the opposition and values of the state with relatable messages and characters to inspire nationalism in their young audiences. During the Cold War, the capitalist United States and the Marxist Soviet Union fought a primarily ideological battle that required full national support to succeed. One way in which both countries garnered such support was by using propaganda cleverly disguised as entertainment products marketed towards children, as they are most easily influenced. Both sides took advantage of children by utilizing scare tactics to portray the opposition as evils. For example, on the cover of the Captain America comic, there is an ugly Communist monster that Captain America picks up and throws, in addition to an egghead scientist that implies that “mad scientists” control Russia, meant to appeal to the common fear of the monster in the closet. The Russians took a subtler approach, but accomplished the same effect nevertheless. Likewise, in The Millionaire, a group of wealthy gentlemen morph into devils and bark at peace-loving protesters, and the bulldog that represents American society urinates on a policeman who responds with a salute, all tactics used to make Russian children fearful the warmongering, disrespectful capitalists.

We chose to first submit our examinations of Kairos and audience to provide the reader with a solid understanding on the texts’ exigence, how they fit into a broader picture, in addition to how they were consumed, allowing the reader to proceed with a complex grasp of their context from a variety of angles. Then we submitted posts on stasis, offering readers the opinions and arguments found within the texts in order to allow them to concentrate more specifically on certain subjects as they read through the blog. We followed those with posts regarding appeals to Ethos, Pathos, and Logos, in addition to posts on emotional appeals and additional texts. This assortment provides readers with the necessary background form their own understanding of the texts in addition to the broader picture issues discussed.

We found this topic extremely exigent, because countless entertainment channels currently incorporate some form of political rhetoric. Many popular television shows, especially those in the late-night comedy genre, have become increasingly politicized. Although not necessarily state-sponsored, programs broadcast politicized opinions and influence millions of audience members. The concept of “fake news,” brought into light during the 2016 presidential election, correlates well with the rhetorical claims discussed throughout our blog. Our nation faces a host of issues and challenges regarding the “fake news” phenomenon and these are discussed every day in newspapers, televised entertainment, and online social media. Readers of our blog will better comprehend and analyze these ongoing issues having read about another period when “fake news,” for lack of a better term, was used so widely.

We believe that our country stands at an important crossroads where political rifts are felt throughout every fiber of our nation’s being. We hope all readers of our blog, no matter their political affiliation, will come to understand what it meant to live in a truly political world where something as simple as a children’s cartoon was a political matter. And in knowing this, they will hopefully learn to recognize the deep-rooted issues at stake in today’s increasingly politicized society and combat them before it’s too late.