Edward Bernays facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Edward Bernays
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Bernays in 1917
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| Born |
Edward Bernays
November 22, 1891 |
| Died | March 9, 1995 (aged 103) |
| Education | Cornell University, (BS) |
| Known for |
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| Spouse(s) |
Doris Fleischman
(m. 1922; died 1980) |
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| Relatives | Martha Bernays (aunt) Sigmund Freud (uncle) Isaac Bernays (great-grandfather) Marc Randolph (great-nephew) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Psychology, sociology |
| Influences |
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Edward Louis Bernays (born November 22, 1891 – died March 9, 1995) was an American thinker. Many people see him as a leader in the field of public relations and propaganda. He is often called "the father of public relations."
Some of his most famous projects include a 1929 effort to encourage women to smoke. He called cigarettes "Torches of Freedom" to link them with women's rights. He also worked for the United Fruit Company in the 1950s. This work was connected to a big political change in Guatemala in 1954.
Bernays worked for many large American companies like Procter & Gamble and General Electric. He also advised government groups, politicians, and charities.
His books, Crystallizing Public Opinion (1923) and Propaganda (1928), were very important. They helped define what public relations was all about. Bernays believed that large groups of people often act based on feelings, not just logic. He showed how skilled people could use ideas from crowd psychology to guide public opinion. He later put these ideas into his book, Public Relations (1945). This book explained how to manage information given to the public in a way that helps an organization.
Life magazine named Bernays one of the 100 most important Americans of the 20th century. His life story was told in a book called The Father of Spin (1999) by Larry Tye. He was also featured in a 2002 BBC documentary called The Century of the Self.
Edward Bernays' Early Life and Education
Edward Bernays was born in Vienna, Austria, into a Jewish family. His mother, Anna, was the sister of the famous psychologist Sigmund Freud. His father, Eli, was the brother of Freud's wife, Martha Bernays. This made Sigmund Freud his "double uncle."
The Bernays family moved from Vienna to the United States in the 1890s. In 1892, they settled in New York City. Edward went to DeWitt Clinton High School there. In 1912, he finished his studies at Cornell University with a degree in agriculture. However, he decided to start his career in journalism instead.
In 1922, he married Doris E. Fleischman. Doris was part of a group that encouraged women to keep their own last names after marriage. Later, she changed her mind and became Doris Bernays. She played a very important, though often quiet, role in their public relations business. She even wrote many memos and speeches for him.
Edward Bernays' Career Path
After college, Bernays first wrote for a gardening magazine. Then he worked at the New York City Produce Exchange, where his father was a grain exporter. He even worked in Paris for a short time, reading grain reports. By late 1912, he was back in New York.
Working as a Medical Editor
In 1912, Bernays became a co-editor for two medical magazines. He and his friend Fred Robinson wrote articles supporting showers and speaking against corsets. They sent free copies of the magazines to many doctors.
Bernays also created a special committee to raise money for social causes related to medicine. He got support from famous people like John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Becoming a Press Agent
Bernays then started working as a creative press agent for different performers and shows. He used many clever methods that would become his trademarks. For example, he promoted the play Daddy Long Legs by linking it to charity for orphans.
To get people interested in the Ballets Russes dance group, he taught Americans about ballet. He also shared a picture of a dancer named Flore Revalles posing with a large snake at the Bronx Zoo. He made opera singer Enrico Caruso seem like a superstar whose voice was so special it needed extreme protection.
His Role in World War I
When the U.S. joined World War I, Bernays was hired by the Committee on Public Information (CPI). He worked to build support for the war both at home and abroad, especially among businesses in Latin America. Bernays called this work "psychological warfare," meaning using ideas to influence people's minds.
After the war, Bernays was part of a group working for the CPI at the Paris Peace Conference. He caused a small stir when he used the word "propaganda" in a press release. He said their goal was to "keep up a worldwide propaganda to spread American achievements and ideals."
Becoming a Public Relations Counsel
From 1919 to 1963, Bernays worked in New York City and called himself a "public relations counsel." He believed his work was different from traditional advertising. He helped create big advertising campaigns and consumer events. He is recognized in important government studies about social trends.
Famous Clients and Campaigns
Bernays used ideas from his uncle, Sigmund Freud, to help convince Americans that bacon and eggs was the perfect breakfast.
In the 1930s, his campaign for Dixie Cups aimed to make people believe that only disposable cups were truly clean and safe to use.
He was also the publicity director for the 1939 New York World's Fair.
Helping Political Leaders
In 1924, Bernays organized a fun "pancake breakfast" for Calvin Coolidge. This was done to make Coolidge seem less serious before the 1924 election. Famous entertainers performed on the White House lawn. Newspapers widely reported on the event, with The New York Times saying, "President Nearly Laughs."
Before the 1932 election, Herbert Hoover asked Bernays for advice. Bernays told Hoover to try and divide his opponents. He also advised him to appear as a strong, unbeatable leader.
Bernays advised William O'Dwyer when he ran for mayor of New York City. He told O'Dwyer how to speak to different groups of voters. For example, he should tell Irish voters about his actions against the Italian mafia. He should tell Italian voters about his plans to improve the police. To Jewish voters, he should appear as a strong opponent of the Nazis.
He also helped name the "President's Emergency Committee for Employment." He suggested this name was better than "Committee for Unemployment."
During World War II, Bernays advised the United States Information Agency. He also worked with the Army and Navy. He helped with war bond drives and book campaigns.
Bernays said he turned down offers to work for the Nazis, the Somoza family in Nicaragua, Francisco Franco, and Richard Nixon.
Working with Non-Profit Groups
Bernays also worked for many non-profit groups and organizations. These included the Jewish Mental Health Society (1928) and the New York Infirmary for Women and Children (1933). He also helped the Friends of Danish Freedom and Democracy (1940).
His Connection to Sigmund Freud
In 1920, Bernays helped publish Freud's book Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis in the U.S. He sent money from the book sales to his uncle in Vienna. Freud, however, turned down other offers from Bernays, like a lecture tour.
Campaigns for Tobacco Companies
In 1927, Bernays worked for a short time with Liggett and Myers, who made Chesterfield cigarettes. He played a trick on a rival brand, Lucky Strike. He made fun of opera singers who said Lucky Strikes were "kind to your voice." The head of the American Tobacco Company, which made Lucky Strike, then hired Bernays away.
When he started working for American Tobacco Company, Bernays' goal was to get more women to buy Lucky Strike cigarettes. At that time, most women did not smoke. His first idea was to convince women to smoke cigarettes instead of eating sweets. Bernays started promoting the idea of being thin. He used photographers, artists, newspapers, and magazines to show how beautiful thin women were. He even found doctors to say that choosing cigarettes over sweets was a good idea.
The "Torches of Freedom" Campaign
A big social rule at the time was that women should not smoke in public. Bernays talked to a psychologist named Abraham Brill. Brill told him that cigarettes could be seen as "torches of freedom" for women. This idea meant that smoking could show women's desire for more independence in the modern world.
So, Bernays organized a public event. He had young women march in the 1929 Easter Parade in New York City. They lit up cigarettes and smoked them openly. This event was planned to look like a protest for women's rights. The march went as planned, and it got a lot of attention in the news. Soon, women across the country were seen smoking in public more often.
The "Green Ball" Campaign
In 1934, Bernays faced a new problem. Women did not want to buy Lucky Strike cigarettes because their green and red package clashed with popular fashion colors. Bernays suggested changing the package color, but the company refused. They had spent millions advertising the current package. So, Bernays decided to make green a fashionable color instead.
His main effort was the "Green Ball," a fancy party at the Waldorf Astoria hotel. The party was said to be for charity. Famous women from high society were asked to attend wearing green dresses. Clothing makers and stores were told that green was becoming very popular. Before the ball, newspapers and magazines, encouraged by Bernays, started writing that green was the new trend.
How Bernays Worked
Bernays often kept his work for companies a secret. He did not want people to know he was working for American Tobacco Company. He told his staff not to mention his name. He used other people and groups to promote ideas, making it seem like these ideas came from them naturally. Even though he did not smoke cigarettes himself, he tried to get his wife, Doris, to quit.
United Fruit Company and Guatemala
The United Fruit Company (now Chiquita Brands International) hired Bernays in the early 1940s. His job was to sell more bananas in the United States. He did this by linking bananas to good health and American values. He also made sure celebrities were seen eating bananas. Bernays also said that United Fruit needed to make the countries where bananas grew look good. So, he created a group called the Middle America Information Bureau. This group gave information to journalists and professors.
In the 1950s, Bernays worked to create news stories about the threat of Communism in Guatemala. He suggested a campaign where universities, lawyers, and the U.S. government would say that taking over private land was wrong. He wanted the company to use media pressure to get the U.S. President to make a strong statement.
In the following months, major newspapers and magazines published articles about the threat of Communism in Guatemala. Bernays' strategy included sending positive articles and a report on Guatemala to every member of Congress. They also published a weekly newsletter for journalists.
Bernays became close with journalists from The New York Times and other papers. In 1952, he took a group of journalists on a tour of Guatemala, paid for by the company. This method was very effective and was repeated several times.
In June 1954, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) helped with a political change in Guatemala. Bernays was the main source of information for international news agencies during this time. After the change, Bernays helped improve the image of Guatemala's new president, Carlos Castillo Armas.
Edward Bernays' Techniques
Using Third Parties
Bernays believed it was okay to secretly use other people or groups to promote ideas. He thought these people were free to make their own choices.
He wrote about his campaign for Ivory Soap: "As if a button was pushed, people started working for the client instead of the client begging people to buy."
Businesses found these hidden methods very appealing. Writers Strother Walker and Paul Sklar said that Bernays offered a way to deal with public doubt about businesses. It was better "to plant an idea in a group leader's mind and let him spread it than to write up an idea and send it to the papers."
A Scientific Approach to Public Relations
Bernays was a pioneer in using mass psychology and other social sciences to design his public campaigns. He asked, "If we understand how groups think, can we control them without them knowing?" He believed that recent uses of propaganda showed this was possible. He later called this scientific way of shaping opinions the engineering of consent.
Bernays believed that not just psychology, but also sociology, was important for public relations. He saw individuals as "a cell organized into the social unit." He thought that by touching a sensitive spot, you could get a reaction from specific members of a group.
Edward Bernays' Philosophy
Bernays thought that large groups of people are often guided by things they don't fully understand. Because of this, he believed that smart people could and should guide their thoughts. He said, "Intelligent men must realize that propaganda is the modern tool by which they can fight for good goals and help bring order out of confusion."
He saw propaganda as the only way to avoid chaos.
Bernays also thought that people would always be influenced. So, good propagandists could compete with bad ones without doing anything wrong. In his view, "the small group that uses this power is becoming smarter, and works more and more for ideas that help society."
Unlike some other early public relations experts, Bernays believed in central planning. He even suggested a form of "mild corporate socialism" in his 1945 book, Take Your Place at the Peace Table.
Bernays also used ideas from the French writer Gustave Le Bon, who created the idea of crowd psychology. He also used ideas from Wilfred Trotter, who wrote about similar ideas in his book Instincts of the Herd in Peace and War.
Edward Bernays' Impact and Legacy
Much of Bernays' fame today comes from his own efforts to build his reputation as "America's No. 1 Publicist." While he was active, many of his colleagues were annoyed by his constant self-promotion. According to Scott Cutlip, "Bernays was a brilliant person who had a spectacular career, but... he was a braggart."
Bernays received both praise and criticism for his big statements about public relations. His book Crystallizing Public Opinion (1923) was praised as a groundbreaking study of public opinion. However, Propaganda (1928) received more criticism for supporting the idea of influencing large groups of people.
In the 1930s, his critics became harsher. As a leading figure in public relations and a known supporter of "propaganda," Bernays was compared to European leaders like Joseph Goebbels and Adolf Hitler. (Bernays wrote in his 1965 autobiography that Goebbels read and used his books.)
Instead of stepping back, Bernays continued to promote his ideas. For example, in a 1935 speech, he said that strong leaders should become symbols to guide the public. Other times, he said that while propaganda is always present, a democratic system allows many different types of propaganda. In contrast, fascist systems only offer one official type.
At the same time, Bernays was praised for his success, wisdom, and influence as a founder of public relations.
While opinions about him varied, there was a general agreement that propaganda had a strong effect on people's minds.
Images for kids
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Edward Bernays' signature
See also
In Spanish: Edward Bernays para niños
