#psychological-operations

#psychological-operations

For over a century, the United States military has been dropping propaganda leaflets in deliberate psychological operations, or psyops, to achieve success in war. But the key question behind the effort remains unanswered: does it even work? In 1918, the US released more than 3m leaflets behind enemy lines by plane and hydrogen balloon. To their delight, they found the leaflets helped erode morale and unit cohesion among the Germans in the first world war. Or so the story goes.

The clip opens on a burning 1980s CRT television that flickers to life with the dancing ghost from Fleischer Studios' 1930 cartoon 'Swing You Sinners!' Within seconds, the screen jumps to a dark forest where leaflets fall through the trees, followed by shots of soldiers standing among civilians as the words 'We are everywhere' flash across the frame. The video then appears to rewind to a WWII-era bombing run, showing a plane dropping pamphlets over a crowd below.