The Birth of Public Relations – Century of Self

The Century of Self is a must see video for any public relations students. It is a fascinating account of the early days of public relations and how large corporations and Governments used psychological techniques to push products and propaganda on the masses.

Psychologist Sigmund Freud’s theories first unearthed innate desires within the human psyche that he believed we subdue. He taught his nephew Edward Bernays the power of irrational analysis. Bernay’s used his Uncle’s theories to become a pioneer of marketing and PR in America. He discovered that if you could link products to their emotional desires and feelings then you could get people to behave irrationally. These were techniques that he implemented through anti-German propaganda during the World War 1 and which be brought into play after the war helping tobacco companies sell cigarettes to women.

Prior to Bernay’s work there was a taboo about women smoking cigarettes, which were seen as being very male. However, Bernay’s staged a suffragette march to get lots of women marchers to light ‘Torches of Freedom’ by all lighting cigarettes at the same time on the march. Bernay’s primed the press to be there and the story made the national news. This symbolic event created the image that if a women smoked it made her more powerful and independent – an image which still persists today. This demonstrated the power of being able to make people behave irrationally by appealing to their emotions, something which is still a powerful force in politics and corporate marketing techniques. 

Below is the first part of Century of Self which explores all these issues. The remaining episodes can be viewed on Google Videos by following this URL  http://www.google.com/search?q=century+of+self&tbo=p&tbs=vid%3A1&source=vgc&aq=7&oq=Century

Ends