Nazi propaganda vs. current advertising: the similarities we don’t want to see
- Fotoprostudio
- Sep 18
- 4 min read
Introduction: design in the service of power (then and now)
It's not a matter of ideology. It's a matter of visual structure. Nazi propaganda not only mobilized millions of people: it did so through a hypnotic aesthetic, designed to impact, unify, and control. And the surprising thing is that many current brands, unknowingly, continue to use the same visual resources.
Because they work.
This post is a raw comparison exercise. An uncomfortable mirror. Not to scandalize, but to understand: What part of the authoritarian imagery are we still replicating, under the guise of happy branding?
Índice:
1. The ideal body: from the Aryan soldier to the fitness model
Nazi propaganda | Current advertising |
White, young, athletic body, without marks. | Fitness models, influencers with no real diversity. |
Symbol of purity, strength, and superiority. | Symbol of health, self-control, and success. |
Use of the body as a national emblem. | Use of the body as an aspirational status. |
Nazi propaganda vs. Jean Paul Gaultier Cologne advertising
The ideal body in Nazi propaganda was not only aesthetic but functional: it represented discipline, racial superiority, and absolute control over the body. In current advertising, although the discourse is different (health, well-being, empowerment), the bodies shown follow an almost identical visual pattern: athletic, symmetrical, without features that deviate from the dominant canon. Diversity, in many cases, is a superficial inclusion that does not challenge the standard.
2. Symmetry, order, and monumentality
Nazi propaganda | Contemporary branding |
Giant stage sets, imposing architecture, crowds in formation. | Flagships like Apple or Zara: white, symmetrical, controlled spaces. |
Frontal shots, central perspective, visual hierarchy. | Websites with perfect grids, centered logos, minimalist photography. |
Nazi propaganda vs. Apple flagship
Visual order is associated with trust, but also with domination. The aesthetics of "perfection" can become oppressive when it eliminates all human traits. The monumental aesthetics of power were based on immediate visual impact and the suppression of chaos. The same applies to many contemporary commercial spaces: stores with rigid architectural design, flawless websites, perfect compositions. The subliminal message is clear: everything is under control here. This, although effective in conveying professionalism, can alienate the viewer if not balanced with warmth and human visuals.
3. Repetition and collective hypnosis
Nazi Propaganda | Contemporary advertising |
Repetition of symbols: swastikas, faces of leaders, flags. | Omnipresent logos, recycled slogans, monochromatic feeds. |
Slogans like "Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer." | "Your best version", "Make it possible", "Be yourself". |
Nazi logo and slogan vs Nike logo and slogan
Repetition is not innocent. It creates familiarity, and with it, obedience. Modern branding is designed so that we don't think, but recognize.
Repetition was essential for embedding ideas in the collective mind. Nazi propaganda knew that a message repeated enough would become part of the mental landscape. In today's marketing, empty but omnipresent slogans work the same way: they repeat on social media, banners, products... until they lose their meaning and become a consumption mantra. The risk is that the brand becomes background noise without a real proposition.
4. The anonymous hero
Nazi Propaganda | Contemporary advertising |
The anonymous soldier, strong, with no defined face. | Models without expression, "everyday people" embodying the target audience. |
The individual is subordinated to the collective. | The generic "self" that serves any brand. |
Nazi Propaganda vs. H&M 2016 Advertisement
The supposed "inclusion" in advertising often still relies on interchangeable faces, lacking real identity. Diversity is aesthetic, not narrative.
In propaganda, the anonymous hero symbolized total devotion to the collective. Today, many brands use neutral, expressionless faces that can fit any consumer profile. A superficial inclusion is sought, without identity or story. The result is an empty representation, closer to anonymity than real representation.
5. Total branding: everything aligned, everything controlled
Nazi propaganda | Current marketing |
Absolute control of aesthetics: uniforms, architecture, signage. | Total branding: from packaging to app icon color. |
Nothing is outside the visual narrative of the regime. | Obsessive coherence: everything communicates, everything must be aligned. |
Nazi aesthetics vs. Hermés aesthetics and packaging
Visual coherence is desirable. But when it becomes stifling uniformity, it reproduces the same effects: it eliminates difference, erases spontaneity, and imposes a single narrative.
In the Nazi regime, image was everything: from uniforms to official typography. The idea was to eliminate any visual escape and impose a unique aesthetic. Today, branding seeks something similar: a fully coherent experience. But when that coherence turns into rigidity, it suffocates. Brands must ask themselves if their visual system is a guide... or a creative prison.
6. The problem is not the design. It is the lack of awareness
We're not saying that Apple is fascist. Nor that using symmetry or minimalism makes you authoritarian.
What we're saying is this:
If you don't review which codes you're using, you might end up telling a story that isn’t yours.
Many of the visual elements we associate with luxury, power, purity, or innovation have a genealogy that traces back to control. To exclusion. To homogenization.
Designing consciously means asking yourself: Why am I choosing this type of lighting? What does this repetition communicate? Am I reinforcing values, or just replicating a formula that "works"?
Conclusion: Designing is not decorating, it's deciding which world you represent
Every brand represents a model of the world, even if it doesn't say so. It does so with its spaces, its bodies, its colors, its silence. The question is: Is this world inclusive, alive, human? Or is it a flawless world, but without a soul?
The tools of visual power are in your hands. What you do with them... is up to you.
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