Source: www.alarabiya.net
Is the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) silent? It seems to me that the posters we saw on the billboards in 2018 are inexistant this year. However, FPM is no silent at all; it’s rather using social media to spread its electoral campaign. In the past few years, politicians have been extensively relying on these platforms because they give them an easy, direct and less costly access to voters. What are some of the techniques that the Free Patriotic Movement has been using in campaigns to make them more persuasive?
In 2018, there was a raised clenched fist, holding both the Lebanese and the FPM flags to create an association between them, and to reinforce the slogan that says, “a strong FPM for a strong Lebanon”.
Source: facebook.com/FreePatrioticMovement
Is the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) silent? It seems to me that the posters we saw on the billboards in 2018 are inexistant this year. However, FPM is no silent at all; it’s rather using social media to spread its electoral campaign. In the past few years, politicians have been extensively relying on these platforms because they give them an easy, direct and less costly access to voters. What are some of the techniques that the Free Patriotic Movement has been using in campaigns to make them more persuasive?
In 2018, there was a raised clenched fist, holding both the Lebanese and the FPM flags to create an association between them, and to reinforce the slogan that says, “a strong FPM for a strong Lebanon”.
Source: facebook.com/FreePatrioticMovement
Other visual elements were also present in the posters based on the slogan of each. “Lebanon is strong in its unity” had a picture of both church and mosque domes; “Lebanon is strong in its oil and gas resources”, a picture of an oil rig, and so on.
The slogans were characterized by the use of repetition which helps convince us that what’s being said is true even if it’s not. The more familiar we become with something, the easier we accept it. The message becomes then as follows: when FPM is strong, Lebanon is strong. When Lebanon is strong, you can have unity, dignity, oil resources and other. If one of these is missing, then the package is missing. This is how politicians frame our minds without us knowing that they do.
In February 2022, a series of short videos were introduced on social media under the name of “one minute with Gebran”. The introductory video has an interesting caption that says, “a minute of truth sums up years of manipulation and lies”. The way that phrase is written directs our attention to “years of manipulation and lies”, and gets us into the right mood for FPM leader to present the information he wants to convince us of because we will unconsciously accept it.

Source: www.facebook.com/GebranBassil
In February 2022, a series of short videos were introduced on social media under the name of “one minute with Gebran”. The introductory video has an interesting caption that says, “a minute of truth sums up years of manipulation and lies”. The way that phrase is written directs our attention to “years of manipulation and lies”, and gets us into the right mood for FPM leader to present the information he wants to convince us of because we will unconsciously accept it.

Source: www.facebook.com/GebranBassil
The remaining videos of the series are very much similar even though each one deals with a different matter. Bassil starts by presenting facts. Then, he sheds the light on the struggles and agony that the famous “them” has caused us. When negative words are used in political discourse, logic is set aside and negative emotions come to surface. This creates the perfect opportunity for him to speak about what FPM has been doing to stand in the face of “them”. Also, the use of Us/Them model helps increase his positive self-representation.
After appealing to our emotions, Bassil calls for action and asks us to assume our responsibility if we may wish to change the situation. He says, “vote for FPM, vote with us for (the recovery of stolen funds, recovery of rights…)”, before ending with this year’s slogan, “we were and will remain (clean, patriotic, truth seekers…)”.
Make no mistake, the campaigns must be emotionally powerful. As Franklin Roosevelt once said, “in politics, nothing happens by accident. If it happens, you can bet it was planned that way.”
Is the FPM silent? If this is called silence, then silence is definitely stronger than words.