This. It makes the masses feel good to have the bad guy on your side, and people are often more attracted to dark aesthetics than anything else. Particularly the young.
It's not the greatest example, but how many people in your life have you heard say that the Sith are lame, and that Jedi are way more badass? None. Absolutely none. Most people feel the exact opposite.
[–] 17734142? ago
There was this study when they asked men about how a good man should act. Most answered that he speaks truth, pays his debts and taxes, works and acts nice toward weaker people. Then they proceeded to ask same men about their most favorite movie characters. I don't remember the order, but all said: Godfather, Darth Vader, Scarface and various Pulp Fiction characters. You can clearly see the implications here.
[–] 17734152? ago
There's various layers of programming in NPCs. The moral programming tends to be very weak in this day and age, and anything that manners to trigger a genuine emotional response (as church do-good morality has always failed) is going to reach deeper.
Most people worship figures on TV and film far more than they have ever have actual religious deities and principles.
In making propaganda we need to make people feel feels, and also use established tropes to appeal to the masses on a subconscious level.
As one anon here said before, if you look like a joke, everything you say WILL BE a joke.