Edward Bernays (November 22, 1891 – March 9, 1995) was an American publicist, a master of manipulation and the “father of public relations.” His name is inseparable from the history of PR. This Austro-American influenced the formation of the modern science of mass persuasion. Read more at manhattanka.
In his methods, Bernays masterfully integrated ideas about crowd psychology from Gustave Le Bon and W. Trotter with the psychoanalytic concepts of his prominent uncle Sigmund Freud. Instead of appealing to reason, he manipulated subconscious feelings and impulses, creating effective PR campaigns that shaped the thoughts and behaviors of entire societies.
Edward Bernays: An Extremely Influential Figure
His extraordinary ability to shape public desires made him one of the most powerful yet unnoticed people of the 20th century. He is considered to have invented modern mass manipulation, and his methods still have an impact on Western consumer culture.
Although Bernays passed away over 20 years ago, his ideas iive on and thrive. A striking example of his genius is the famous campaign promoting women’s smoking.
In 1929, the front page of the New York Times featured the headline “Group of Girls Puff at Cigarettes as a Gesture of ‘Freedom,’” accompanied by photos of liberated women enjoying cigarettes. This revolutionary promotion action became one of Edward’smost famous tricks.
His client, George Hill, president of the American Tobacco Company, set him an ambitious task, to make women smoke in public. Edward brilliantly tackled this challenge, turning smoking into a symbol of female emancipation and independence.
Bernays’ campaign not only increased the market of female smokers but also had a profound impact on society, changing attitudes toward gender roles and laying the foundations of modern consumer culture.
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Intrigued by the success of his crowd-psychology-based campaigns, Bernays thought about how to use the ideas of his famous uncle, Freud, to achieve even greater effect. He sought advice from psychiatrist A.A. Brill, a student of Freud.
Bernays asked Brill about the psychological factors that make women want to smoke and the latter responded that cigarettes represent the masculine principle, becoming torches of freedom.
This was a revelation for Bernays. He conceived a campaign in which feminists would publicly light cigarettes, “torches of freedom,” as an act of emancipation. It had to happen during the Easter Parade on Fifth Avenue in New York City. He believed this would attract the attention of national newspapers.
On March 31, 1929, a group of young women, led by Bertha Hunt (secretary to Edward), marched down Fifth Avenue, demonstratively smoking cigarettes. Bernays was not present there, but his plan worked: reporters called the women “torches of freedom” and wrote about them in newspapers. The identities of Bernays and the American Tobacco Company were not revealed, so they stayed anonymous.
This campaign became a milestone in the world of PR. It is still studied in marketing textbooks, as it caused national debates and encouraged women to smoke in public places. However, new research by Vanessa Murphree from USM, conducted in September 2015, questioned this myth. An analysis of media coverage in 1929 showed considerable differences between the initial perception of the campaign and its actual impact on women’s smoking habits.
Brief Biography of Sigmund Freud’s Nephew
Edward, nephew of S. Freud, was born into a Jewish family in 1891. His journey into the world of PR began in 1915 by organizing an advertising campaign for Sergei Diaghilev’s ballet. He later worked with giants such as Procter & Gamble, General Motors and the American Tobacco Company, as well as with E. Roosevelt and C. Coolidge. Life magazine included Bernays in its list of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century.
Bernays was related to Freud through his mother, Anna, who was Freud’s sister, and his father, Ely, who was the brother of Freud’s wife, Martha. He was involved in grain trading. Edward was born in Vienna in 1891 and moved with his family to the United States a year later. At his father’s insistence, he entered Cornell University, which he completed in 1912 with a degree in agriculture. After a brief visit to the grain market, he immediately gave up the idea of pursuing this profession. Edward died on March 9, 1995, at the age of 103 in Massachusetts. In the Freud family, he was not the only one to achieve success. Matthew Freud, another family member, also followed his calling and became one of the most influential PR professionals in the UK.
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Bernays did not just advertise products, he manipulated public consciousness. He drew inspiration from the works of his uncle, S. Freud, using psychoanalytic ideas to control people’s subconscious feelings and impulses.
Emigrating from Austria to the United States, Bernays revolutionized the world of advertising and political PR. He became a pioneer in applying psychology and social sciences in PR campaigns, calling his method “The Engineering of Consent.”
Bernays’ Contribution
Use of psychology in PR. Edward was the first to apply psychoanalytic ideas in PR campaigns, manipulating people’s subconscious desires and fears.
- The Engineering of Consent: Bernays developed this method based on a scientific approach to building public opinion.
- Revolution in advertising: Bernays transformed advertising from simple information about the product into a tool for influencing mass consciousness.
- Impact on politics: Edward actively used his methods in politics, helping politicians mold public opinion.
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Bernays’ Legacy
Bernays is a controversial figure. His methods are often criticized for being manipulative and anti-democratic.
- Influence on PR: Bernays is considered a pioneer of modern PR. His methods and ideas are still utilized in the PR industry today.
- The power of persuasion: Edward proved that with the help of PR, it is possible not only to inform but also to persuade, manipulate and even control people.
Bernays actively changed the face of Western societies for eight decades, blurring the lines between the real and the artificial. He pushed the boundaries, making information inseparable from manipulation. His followers continued his work by creating a masterful imitation of real events on the internet, mixing independent blogs with paid ones and blending scientific research with commercial interests.
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The 21st century has witnessed Bernays’ concepts spread to all spheres of life. Despite his anonymity, Bernays was named by Life magazine as one of the 100 most influential Americans of the 20th century.
Some have argued that his wife and business partner, Doris E. Fleischman, played a key role in Bernays’s success, but he himself thought little of this. Nevertheless, discussions surrounding him did not cease until he surpassed all his competitors. In later years, he was regarded as a real professional in his field. Bernays considered himself to be a member of an “intellectual elite minority” who could rule the masses with the click of a button. However, he chose to forget that it was always his clients who decided when to press those buttons.