A Proper Propagandist & Instigator of Hedonia in America
by Chase Patton
The field of public relations is associated with the “engineering of consent” based on the Jeffersonian principle that “in a truly democratic society, everything depends upon the consent of the public.” However, is consent truly consent when systematically engineered or influenced into existence using public relations? “Public relations” is a process developed using group psychology and methods of psychoanalysis by Edward Bernays, nephew of the famous psychologist, Sigmund Freud. Although largely forgotten today, Bernays has had a tremendous international impact on the trajectory of modern society through the adaptation of his uncle’s theories into the applied use of propaganda, or public relations.
Edward Bernays is a crucial figure in understanding the 20th century from a Western perspective. His work had a major influence on the way media, marketing, and public relations were and are done worldwide today. His method began with the transformation of advertising. This drew upon logic and reason to develop resonance through emotion, manipulating mental pressure points, and unconscious triggers to create positive interest and eventually sales. In some circumstances, his methods were employed to promote a variety of products, positions, and ultimately, overt/covert military propaganda. Bernays began his work in New York City, creating publicity and pitches for agricultural business, and eventually found a role in the Committee for Public Information during World War I along with Walter Lippmann.
The Committee was tasked with influencing domestic public opinion on various perceptions of the war. Bernays and Lippman developed one method for the Committee which was the manufacturing of consent. A more recent form of this is known as nudge theory, or positioning people to make the decisions desired of them. One of its most prominent proponents is Cass Sunstein. After learning the craft of propaganda at the CPI, Bernays decided that “if you could use propaganda for war, you could certainly use it for peace.” Or perhaps more accurately, it could be used during peace time for procuring immense profit through practical applications of psychological methods of influence.
Eventually, propaganda was received negatively in the court of public opinion. Bernays blamed the Nazis and their use of propaganda as the reason why it was being received so poorly. Another, stronger factor may have been that the public noticed that propaganda could be used as a covert method of manipulating individual and societal decision-making. Being an expert propagandist, he decided to reframe the perception of his trade and began to use a new term for a propagandist, which he called a “counsel on public relations.” Bernays advocated that the White House install a council on public relations to interface with the press. That is the origin of the modern press secretary. Through his work and field research, Bernays established a framework to manage the perceptions of the American public through radio and television. This is still in use today—we can thank Edward Bernays for beginning the transition in America from decision making based on factual analysis to the analysis of emotions and fear. Or perhaps it is his adaptation of Freud’s theories and the use of hidden irrational forces as motivators that we should consider as the fulcrum for this transition from thinking our way to decisions to feeling our way through decisions, particularly in choosing consumer products. However, let’s face it. We are constantly bombarded with advertisements and the methods and strings these advertisements play upon. These influenced processes drift into the mechanisms of how our other decision-making processes operate. That is part of where the danger lies in engineering consent.
Following the second industrial revolution, the installation of a nationwide public education system, and a booming middle-class Edward Bernays was positioned in the right place at the right time. Supply and demand augmented by advertising developed into the consumerist society as we know it today. Statement of fact advertisement ruled. However, there was very little that separated one product from another product at the time. This is where Edward Bernays developed the group psychology component of advertising by adopting his uncle’s work into scripts and solutions of varying levels of complexity. Products intentionally positioned in media and staged events became the answer to consumer needs, desires, and their unconscious mind.
This was a revolution in communication because instead of stating facts, advertisers began to focus on the concept of the purchase and the social status a particular purchase implies. This is like the thought you have with you think of a Ford compared to a Porsche. Or how you would feel if you owned one over the other. Or what people would think of you if you owned a Porsche. Each has its distinct social status implication. This was reconfigured in revolutionary advertising developed by Bernays at the beginning of the 20th century. And thankfully, according to Bernays and his clientele, there was an elite class ready and willing to shepherd the middle classes into a consumerist Hedonic treadmill. We are all running on a treadmill today to one extent or another. If you buy products other than for investment or actual, defined needs, you are most likely on that treadmill.
According to Bernays, manipulating the habits and opinions of society is an “important element in democratic society.” It is the “invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country.” The survival benefits of massing in groups have been circumvented and used as a tool of manipulation by pulling on our irrational and unconscious beliefs to arrive at a predetermined result. Or, for one component, the desire to “keep up with the Joneses’” was mechanized into a repeatable solution by a master of his art. We identify or derive some of our power from the group; hence, we will do things to keep our relationship with a group solvent and in good standing, including making purchases so that we can identify with groups that model our ideas or desires. We want to be seen as X, so we buy Y products. Can any of the readers at present identify with this behavior in their own lives and routines?
Bernays understood that the crowd is conscious or a state of mind, not just a collection of several people or individuals. We feel more powerful when we identify with a given crowd, group, culture, or subculture if we want to be recognized as hip or edgy. It provides power, security, and identity.
However, subcultures have generally become cliché. Graffiti culture, punk rock, rave, and D.I.Y. culture have been adopted into the mass cultural landscape of corporate America and are now deemed acceptable—and profitable. You may now purchase culturally acceptable, corporate-provided identifying regalia to identify your membership in that specific group. How can your identity be known without the corresponding products? How will you know where you fit in? It is a matter of social survival. The development of myriad cultures that youth and adults now identify with was predicted in Alvin Toffler’s prescient work, “Future Shock.” The current makeup of society is not by mistake or happenstance, but has been influenced into existence. It was and is intentional, though precise scope of these changes are unknown because there was no way to gauge the effectiveness of the methods of certain types of influence.
In his 1919 book “Propaganda,” Bernays posed the question which developed from the study of group psychology, “If we understand the mechanism and motives of the group mind, is it not possible to control and regiment the masses according to our will without their knowing it?” Bernays revealed that there is a separation between our actions and our unconscious thoughts, and that it is possible to move people into identifying with conflicting groups. These groups identify themselves along the lines of their politics, race, religion, gender, etc. These means of identification are used as the fulcrum to stimulate the consciousness of individuals through the consumption of mass media, and now with AI precision through social media. Particularly social media, since all metrics within social media are tracked. Everything is tracked, including your internet browsing history. Because most people identify with specific groups and what groups they identify with are tracked, their interests are manipulatable. They are not only individuals but members of a group or tribe because that is how they have been groomed to be. And because they are members of groups, they may be set into conflict with each other over a variety of intersecting points of interest. Machiavellian strategy using Hegelian dialectics. Problem, action, reaction tracking to a predetermined result.
Progress will never be made if an individual’s main avenue of existence is to identify within groups. It is no different from tribal conflict found on almost every continent. They will exist in a constant tribal conflict with their neighbors. Conflict over the issues they use to identify themselves with instead of following the concept of identifying themselves as human, prone to learning from experience and therefore given to be allowed some amount of empathetic understanding.
None of us arrive at our places of being or position on subjects or topics of interest without some quantity of trial and error. Trial and error are a necessary part of human existence and evolutionary development. However, operating primarily from a place of a group or tribal identity could be considered a regressive evolution of consciousness. moving back to the tribalism of past millennia. Back to the protections and security found within groups or tribes.
Exactly from whom or what do we need to protect ourselves from at this point? That question is something to consider. On the next upcoming holiday or special interest day while you celebrate a facet of your identity or group identity, you can thank Edward Bernays for commodifying your experiences as a part of your group membership or participation. Which is the future for everyone, virtually everyone.
References:
Ball State University Libraries. (2020). Edward L. Bernays interview, 1986-10-23 [Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rg1jOLBzvvY.
Basen, I. (24 June, 2014). How WWI helped entrench the art of mass persuasion. CBC.Ca. https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/how-ww-i-helped-entrench-the-art-of-mass-persuasion-1.2684519.
Bernays, E., & Miller, M. C. (2004). Propaganda. (First Paperback Edition). Ig Publishing.
Gunderman, R. (2015). The manipulation of the American mind: Edward Bernays and the birth of public relations. The Conversation. Retrieved 18 February 2022, from https://theconversation.com/the-manipulation-of-the-american-mind-edward-bernays-and-the-birth-of-public-relations-44393.
Observation Spring. (2007). :: Edward Bernays : on Propaganda and Public Relations ::. Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0OrT-8gXMs> [Accessed 10 February 2022].
