Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

People Break Down Which Pieces Of Propaganda Did The Most Damage

Nearly 30 years ago, Rwanda's Hutu population initiated perhaps the most successful genocide campaign in recent history, systematically murdering more than 800,000 members of the Tutsi population over a three-month period.

The period before the genocide began was marked by heightened political tensions. Hutus and their supporters would take to radio broadcasts to brand Tutsis "cockroaches," which normalized animosity toward them. It was successful propaganda that altered the lives of millions.

This isn't the first time that people have used propaganda for nefarious reasons – far from it. People shared their thoughts with us after Redditor fitboy15 asked the online community,

"What piece of propaganda did the most damage?"

"That Oxycontin..."

"That OxyContin had a low rate of dependency."

No-Discussion6480

If Dopesick didn't send you down a rabbit hole learning about the Sackler family, then you did something wrong.

"Kids lost..."

"In the 90s, child abduction fear porn was all the rage on the nightly news. And they were always the 1 in a million, crazy stories with horrific deaths and would play weekly. Chris Hanson's "To Catch a Predator" didn't help."

"However, these kidnappings were extremely rare in reality. Kids lost almost all unsupervised play time, which as it turns out is very helpful for learning how to socialize."

[deleted]

Not to mention most kidnappings were done by close relatives of the child rather than complete strangers.

"When Coca Cola..."

"When Coca Cola paid off doctors to say that fat was what caused fatness rather than sugar. This has destroyed the health of generations. It was the total converse of the truth, pushed to all American children (and many internationally) about their health."

andycambridge

There's a looming crisis in Mexico just because of this. The commoner is so brainwashed about sugar that the drink is almost consumed ritualistically/ceremoniously.

This dude!

“Dr.” Andrew Wakefield and his false study."

Xboarder84

People talk a lot about the harms Wakefield did by spreading distrust in vaccines, and that's huge and unforgivable, but the harms he caused to the autistic community are huge and unforgivable too. So much unnecessary hatred.

"When big tobacco companies..."

"When big tobacco industries made doctors endorse cigarettes."

Sandracotta

Made? They gave them kickbacks and direct payments.

Dr. Robert Ho Man Kwok's 1968 letter..."

"Dr. Robert Ho Man Kwok's 1968 letter in New England Journal of Medicine talking of Chinese restaurant syndrome caused by MSG without any scientific evidence."

doesntcareatall

Indeed, this added a lot of content to preexisting stigma towards East Asians. However blinded experiments could not prove his claims.

"It might not be the worst..."

"It might not be the worst, but when the woman spilled hot coffee on herself from McDonald's. She ended up with 3rd degree burns because the coffee temperature wasn't regulated correctly and McDonald's paid people to make fun of her, and people still do to this day."

mksports

Her burns were so severe that her labia were fused together. She suffered horrifying, debilitating and expensive burns and she was mocked and painted as irresponsible. All she wanted from McDonalds was the cost of her medical expenses, too.

"The United States..."

"The United States FDA Food Pyramid."

yawmush

One of the biggest lies ever told. Grain is more important than vegetables? Yeah, right.

"The War..."

"The War on Drugs."

[deleted]

"Perhaps..."

"Perhaps not the most damaging, but certainly a vile example… when Pope Benedict XVI told the people of sub-Saharan Africa that condoms would actually make the HIV/AIDS crisis worse."

PosterNutbag

It was largely rooted in a belief that birth control goes against the word of god. "Go forth and multiply" taken to the extreme.

Yeah... if you walked away from these not feeling at least a bit ambivalent about the human race, then I don't know what to tell you.

Want to "know" more?

Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.

Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again.

More from Trending/best-of-reddit

John Stamos
Elyse Jankowski/Getty Images

John Stamos Sparks Fan Backlash After He's Photographed At Mar-A-Lago Event

Full House fans were disappointed too see photos of actor John Stamos speaking at Republican President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

The appearance came as a surprise since Stamos previously expressed support for Kamala Harris in 2024.

Keep ReadingShow less
Marjorie Taylor Greene
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

MTG Slammed After Telling MAGA Fans To Venmo Money To Her Son For His Birthday

Georgia Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene is being criticized after she tweeted and then deleted a post linking to her son Derek's Venmo account and told her supporters to buy him "a beer" for his birthday.

Greene, whose ex-husband Perry Greene is the father of her daughters Lauren and Taylore, reportedly has a net worth close to $22 million. She removed the post not long after it drew a wave of critical responses.

Keep ReadingShow less
Bill Murray
@anthony_anderson5/TikTok

Bill Murray Snaps At Pushy Fan For Trying To Take Unwanted Photo At Movie Theater In Viral Video

Bill Murray wasn’t in the mood for surprises at a recent movie screening—especially not from an overzealous fan who got a little too close for comfort.

The Ghostbusters star, 73, was at AMC Lincoln Square 13 in New York City for a Q&A session tied to his new film The Friend when things got tense.

Keep ReadingShow less
JK Rowling Slammed After She Adds Asexual People To Her Growing List Of LGBTQ+ Targets
Mike Marsland/WireImage

JK Rowling Slammed After She Adds Asexual People To Her Growing List Of LGBTQ+ Targets

Harry Potter author JK Rowling must be growing bored with transphobia because now she's using her worldwide platform to whine about asexuals.

Sunday, April 6 was International Asexuality Day, and of course Rowling couldn't possibly just let the day go by.

Keep ReadingShow less
Perry Greene from TikTok video; Greene apologizing
Fox 5 Atlanta

MTG's Ex-Husband Apologizes After He's Caught On Video Verbally Accosting Muslim Women

Far right Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene's ex-husband publicly apologized for an incident in which he was caught on camera harassing three Muslim women who were praying in a mall parking lot just north of Georgia.

Video filmed on March 31 showed Perry Greene leaning out of his Tesla Cybertruck and heckling the women, telling them they're "worshiping a false god because y'all are pieces of sh*t" and repeatedly telling them to "go back to your country."

Keep ReadingShow less