China tries to get hip with its Communist propaganda
BEIJING -- When you think of Communist propaganda, dusty old movie-poster style images may come to mind. But there's a new era of propaganda in China. The ruling Communist Party is taking its message into the digital age.
The latest clip making the rounds on China's state-run media shows a cartoon of President Xi Jinping, going after and punishing officials with a mallet, whack-a-mole style; it's the - animated tale of Xi's crackdown on corruption.
China's messaging "machine" has always been an important way to communicate here, and after President Xi took power in 2012, he tasked a top-level committee with finding "innovative ways" of producing propaganda.
Some efforts try to tackle rather dry subjects. One, for instance, breaks-down the so-called "Four Comprehensives," a government proclamation all about China's long term development.
President Xi has consolidated power more quickly than his predecessors, and we've seen a growing cult of personality around him.
To that end, there's one propaganda clip called "Marry him."
It's a little ditty that includes the lyrics: "If you want to marry, marry someone like Xi Dada, a man full of heroism with an unyielding spirit."