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I was just watching this interesting documentary by Adam Curtis for the BBC back in 2002.
In it Edward Bernays, who invented the term “public relations”, is shown as having had the idea from the first world war. He saw how propaganda was used to successfully promote the war. He realized that this idea could be used in peace too for financial gain. He understood that this would never be successful using the term propaganda and with the help of his uncle, Sigmund Freud, he coined the term Public Relations and opened his first firm in NYC. He used the principles of psychoanalysis to inform the masses. I found it especially interesting how he promoted cigarettes to women as symbols of independence and promoted cars to men as a symbol of virility. Even his uncle’s writings and ideas would never have gained the popularity they had if not for Bernay’s unprecedented brand of emotional smoke and mirrors. This is the birth of the Adman inspiring us to feel that we must have things we don’t need. Our insatiable urge for endless useless consumer goods starts here. This documentary chronicles the manipulative beginnings of the promotion of a culture of desire.
Even though Freud was a pacifist in WWII, the writings of Edward Bernays were used by Hitler as the basis of Nazi control over Germany and explains how he managed to win such popular tyranny over his people.
Fascinating stuff.
