Leaflet Distribution's Role In Propaganda And Pop Culture

Walk down any high street in any big town or city and the chances are that you'll be approached, at least once, by someone wanting to give you a flyer or leaflet offering a product or service that you simply cannot live without.This type of leaflet distribution has become so common now that it could be argued that it has lost much of its impact.The leaflets are often very basic with the sole intention of getting you to make a phone call or visit a website and so there has not been much thought given to the design.

But leaflet distribution has seen better days and in fact has been instrumental in some important cultural and historical moments in recent history.Before the Internet and before it was so easy to send a message from one side of the world to the other, people relied on more basic methods to get a message across.People had to be creative and imaginative to get the most from these simple methods, very often artists, writers and creative people were brought on board.Sometimes the results were staggering.

When the First World War broke out the British government appointed Lord Kitchener as Secretary of State for War.He saw that the war was not going to be over by Christmas as many said and knew that there was a need for a huge recruitment campaign.His famous 'Your Country Needs You' poster was designed and a combination of bill posting and leaflet distribution led to a huge increase in people signed up for action.
The poster has been copied hundreds, maybe thousands, of times since for all sorts of reasons, some to do with recruitment, some just to sell a product.It remains one to the most iconic images of the 20th century and was used in one of the most successful leaflet distribution campaigns ever.

The counter culture movement of the 1960's had many differing facets.It was the time of civil rights, drug experimentation, feminism and war demonstrations...and I haven't even mentioned the music yet!All of these areas used leaflet distribution as a major part of getting their message across.It was, of course, propaganda but the aims of this propaganda were vastly different from the Kitchener poster and flyers of the First World War.

The most memorable of the flyers produced in this period were for music and musicians.The term 'psychedelic' had become attached to a certain type of pop music that was influenced not only by jazz, folk and blues but also by drugs that were popular at the time.This Psychedelic Rock had a particular sound and a look attached to it.The music was an unusual mix of world music and traditional instruments with rock 'n' roll and modern, amplified instruments.

Artists and illustrators were quick to see the potential for producing psychedelic images for record sleeves and concerts and it wasn't long before a definite style had been established.Groups like The Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane promoted themselves as part of the psychedelic movement and their music and images reflected the fact.

The imagery was brightly colored and was influenced by surrealist painters like Salvador Dali.Stanley Mouse and Alton Kelly were two of the artists who produced posters, album covers and light shows in the new style while Rick Griffin produced many of the posters for The Grateful Dead.The images these artists produced were also used in leaflet distribution to promote live performance and festivals.

Although these flyers were mass produced and designed to be handed out the artistic merit that they had led to many being kept and collected.Today they are much sought after items of rock memorabilia and can be found at auctions across the world.

About the Author

Dominic Donaldson is an expert in the leaflet distribution industry.

Find out more about leaflet distribution and door to door marketing.

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