EDWARD BERNAYS
The father of public relations and propaganda
Edward Bernays (November 22, 1891 − March 9, 1995). He was known as the “father of public relations.”
Bernays was the nephew of Sigmund Freud (another man who rules the world from the grave). Bernays merged his uncle’s theories of crowd psychology with the psychoanalytical ideas in a scientific technique he called, opinion-molding; the ‘engineering of consent.’
He used the media (newspapers, magazines, radio and later television) to communicate his methods of propaganda which are still used by advertisers, activists and governments today.
This Mark Dice’s video explains how Bernays was hired by Lucky Strike to promote cigarettes. He hired women to be photographed smoking in a women’s rights march as a symbol of “freedom.” After the New York Times wrote about it, smoking became the cool thing to do. Of course it was a lie. That is how propaganda works.
In his 1928 book, “Propaganda,” Bernays wrote, “the conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country.”
Bernays said, “This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organized. Vast numbers of human beings must cooperate in this manner. In almost every act of our daily lives we are dominated by the relatively small number of persons who understand the mental processes and social patterns of the masses. It is they who pull the wires which control the public mind.”
US President Woodrow Wilson hired Bernays to convince Americans that we needed to get into the First World War. Thanks to Bernays, American war marketing was born and has never died.
Americans are literally being brainwashed by the media. Their thoughts, tastes and convictions are governed largely by unknown individuals. Today we call these people influencers.
What former President Donald Trump called ‘fake news,’ Bernays would have called, misinformation or propaganda and he believed that it should be used to control the masses in order to rule over them.
Just listen to the leftist media’s coordinated drumbeat against Trump for an example of how propaganda works. Without any evidence supporting their narrative, they repeatedly say Trump is a racist, Trump colluded with Russia and Trump is a threat to democracy. These repetitious lies have been effective in demonizing Trump in the eyes of low-information voters.
Just think about how major media (tv and Hollywood) educates Americans in new progressive cultural norms that were taboo just a few years ago. This was accomplished through 24-hour news, social media’s agenda-setting propaganda machine and Hollywood’s normalization of sex, violence and immoral behavior.
Credit Bernays for teaching his methods to this generation’s invisible governing body on how to deceive the masses with ungodly, atheistic propaganda.
What must conservatives do? First, don’t be deceived.
Romans 12:2 (NIV) says, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
Next, be strong and courageous. It takes courage to stand up to the culture and to speak truth in love. And pray for strength. It’s gonna be a bumpy ride.
Greetings, Gary.
Your essay about Edward Bernays is a welcome insight into the fundamental theorist about modern public relations.
Bernays was a highly successful and trusted practitioner of public relations as well as the person who pulled back the curtain and described P.R. to the world. Yes, he was -- to use a denotative term -- a propagandist.
But I fear you conflate Bernays with today’s media managers, who often turn newsrooms into one-sided propaganda shops, rather than sticking to straight-news reporting of stories about what people say and do.
They mix two distinctive and legitimate communication disciplines, public relations advocacy with journalism reporting.
Bernays is often called “the father of public relations,” but I disagree. Another American, almost two centuries earlier, deployed public relations to activate the population of Boston and other colonial Massachusetts towns to build a coalition that agitated for the American Revolution.
This American was Samuel Adams.
It was Adams (1722-1803), second cousin to John Adams, who began the Committees on Correspondence. Formed in the Town Meeting of Boston and other Massachusetts towns, the committees circulated letters setting forth complaints about British rule and reasons for independence.
This was a blog whose posts traveled not at the speed of light, but rather at the speed of a horse. Yet, over time, the difference between horse speed and light speed vanished and the effect on readers was the same.
A new and “wicked good” -- to use a Massachusetts idiom -- biography of Sam Adams was published last year. It is “The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams,” by Stacy Schiff. I confess it is on my Kindle, but I have not yet read it.
I will be interested to read the religious outlook of this revolutionary. According to Wikipedia, Adams was a Puritan Christian and a life member of what is now Boston’s Old South Church. (Not so old in his day.)
Like all activists, Adams both attacked and was attacked. As recently as the 20th Century, British biographies of Adams tarred him as a mob leader. Perhaps, but so much more than that.
Freud’s nephew? Fascinating, never heard of him. Do like his sauce....😝