Sublime

Centuries later, Edward Bernays, father of American public relations (and nephew of Sigmund Freud), 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

The public relations counsel must lift startling facts from his whole subject and present them as news. He must isolate ideas and develop them into events so that they can be more readily understood and so they can claim attention as news.

Two of Lippmann’s ideas were particularly significant as Bernays crafted the job of the “public relations counsel.” The first of these was Lippmann’s argument that people’s view of reality was guided by the “pictures in their heads.” Living within the cocoons of their personal lives, and with minimal direct access to the outer world, most people’s

three recent tendencies of fundamental importance; first, the tendency of small organizations to aggregate into groups of such size and importance that the public tends to regard them as semi-public services; second, the increased readiness of the public, due to the spread of literacy and democratic forms of government, to feel that it is entitled

Given the same job, Bernays would lobby Congress for higher speed limits, making it more fun to own a Thunderbird. Rather than fight for a single season of sales, he would make the world more friendly to his product.

Les croyances politiques de Bernays étaient consternantes. Il était partisan d’une sorte de « fascisme light » : un gouvernement autoritaire, mais sans les calories vides du génocide. Il estimait que les masses populaires étaient dangereuses et devaient à ce titre être contrôlées par un État fort. Il admettait toutefois que les dictatures sanguinai

Bernays a continué les jolis coups de ce genre dans les années 1920, 1930 et 1940. Il a complètement révolutionné l’industrie publicitaire, inventant au passage les « relations publiques ». Payer des célébrités sexy pour qu’elles utilisent tel ou tel produit ? C’est une idée de Bernays. Publier des articles qui font discrètement de la pub pour une

First of all, there are the circumstances and events he helps to create. After that there are the instruments by which he broadcasts facts and ideas to the public; advertising, motion pictures, circular letters, booklets, handbills, speeches, meetings, parades, news articles, magazine articles and whatever other mediums there are through which publ