“It was, of course, the astounding success of propaganda during the war that opened the eyes of the intelligent few in all departments of life to the possibilities of regimenting the public mind. The American government and numerous patriotic agencies developed a technique which, to most persons accustomed to bidding for public acceptance, was new. They not only appealed to the individual by means of every approach—visual, graphic, and auditory—to support the national endeavor, but they also secured the cooperation of the key men in every group —persons whose mere word carried authority to hundreds or thousands or hundreds of thousands of followers.” E Bernays
Edward Bernays, the ‘Father’ of Public Relations and highly influential in informing modern advertising techniques, quite literally wrote the book on Propaganda. It was released in 1928 and makes the case that “the conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society (p.9).”
In this podcast series, Guy Evans examines just how influential Bernays’ ideas were, and details the resulting impact in relation to public relations, advertising, celebrity culture, and democracy itself. This week, Chapter 2 is under the microscope, a chapter that further details the scientific underpinning that explains how the minority influence the majority.
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Chapter 2 Transcript – “The New Propaganda”
In the days when kings were kings, Louis XIV made his modest remark, “L’Etat c’est moi.” He was nearly right.
But times have changed. The steam engine, the multiple press, and the public school, that trio of the industrial revolution, have taken the power away from kings and given it to the people. The people actually gained power which the king lost For economic power tends to draw after it political power; and the history of the industrial revolution shows how that power passed from the king and the aristocracy to the bourgeoisie. Universal suffrage and universal schooling reinforced this tendency, and at last even the bourgeoisie stood in fear of the common people. For the masses promised to become king. Continue reading