Mao used this campaign to get those with anti-communist sentiments to spill out their true feelings so that they could be readily identified and dealt with in one blow. They believed the "promises" of the Chinese Communists that those who spoke out would not be incriminated, and that what they said would be received as constructive criticism.
毛某為誘使反共人士吐露心聲，以便一網打盡，遂信誓旦旦保證「言者無罪、聞者足戒」等語，然須臾間，所有大鳴大放的人士都被認為不是「鮮花」而係「毒草」，最後加以整肅。