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

Jordin Sparks; Halle Berry
Gary Gershoff/Getty Images; Kate Green/Amazon MGM Studios/Sony Pictures Entertainment/Getty Images

Fans Defend Jordin Sparks After She Publicly Asks Halle Berry To Read Her Screenplay About Menopause

You miss one hundred percent of the shots you don't take, and singer Jordin Sparks put that philosophy into action at the end of January.

Halle Berry has been a household name in Hollywood for the last few decades, and now in the middle of her life, she's loudly advocating for increased representation and awareness around women's health and women's experiences, especially what happens to a woman's body during perimenopause and menopause.

Keep ReadingShow less
Elon Musk; Sydney Sweeney
Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images; Brianna Bryson/WireImage/Getty Images

Elon Musk Shares Bizarre AI Video Of Sydney Sweeney Weeks After Making Gross Comment About Her Body

Just weeks after 54-year-old Elon Musk was called out for making a creepy, juvenile AI video about actor Sydney Sweeney's breasts, he decided to promote the use of her likeness and voice to tout how great his X AI Grok Imagine—a text-to-video feature—is at making deep fakes.

The video, originally posted by another user, featured an AI created Sweeney on a spaceship speaking about Grok videos. The original prompt didn't specify Sweeney by name, leading many to wonder if Musk had altered Grok's responses again.

Keep ReadingShow less
'Marty Supreme' Star Exits New Film Amid Backlash To Her Casting As Mexican Character—And Her Response Is Going Viral
Michael Tran / AFP via Getty Images

'Marty Supreme' Star Exits New Film Amid Backlash To Her Casting As Mexican Character—And Her Response Is Going Viral

After a week of online backlash, actor Odessa A’zion announced last Wednesday that she has dropped out of Sean Durkin’s A24 film Deep Cuts.

Deep Cuts adapts Holly Brickley’s 2025 novel of the same name. Set in the 2000s, the story follows two music-obsessed twentysomethings navigating ambition, belonging, and adulthood during a formative decade.

Keep ReadingShow less
Paul Dano; Quentin Tarantino
Aurore Marechal/Getty Images; Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Paul Dano Finally Spoke Up After Quentin Tarantino Dunked On His Acting Skills—And His Response Is Everything

Quentin Tarantino's comments late last year about the skill of some actors were rude and unnecessary, but his comments may have done all of us a favor.

In 2025, Tarantino issued a barrage of insults toward Paul Dano, Matthew Lillard, and Owen Wilson, calling them weak actors, as well as people he didn't care for.

Keep ReadingShow less
Katie Miller; Melania Trump
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images; Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Katie Miller Spouts Unhinged Theory After Melania Trump's Documentary Is Pulled From South African Theaters

Podcaster Katie Miller, the wife of Trump's White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, accused the nation of South Africa of racism after news outlets reported that Melania, a new documentary about First Lady Melania Trump, is being pulled from theaters in the country.

Scheduled for nationwide release in South Africa and distributed locally by Filmfinity, the film had secured bookings with the country’s two major cinema chains, Ster-Kinekor and Nu Metro, as well as independent venues including Cape Town’s Labia Theatre, after clearing standard classification and regulatory approvals.

Keep ReadingShow less