'Managing Consent': The Art of War, Democracy, and Public Relations

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'Managing Consent': The Art of War, Democracy, and Public Relations

August 23 2007
Counterbias.com
by Ramzy Baroud


It was Edward Bernays who fine-tuned the art of Public Relations in the twentieth century. Using many of the psychoanalytic theories put forward by his uncle Sigmund Freud, he developed a mastery of public manipulation, suggesting that such manipulation was essential to democracy itself. Bernays strongly believed that people are simply 'stupid' and in need of being told how to behave, what to believe, what to eat, what to wear and how to vote. The outcomes of such an experiment reverberate to this day.

Some historians credit Bernays' efforts in the 1920s and 30s for turning the modern citizen into a modern consumer. Not only did he convince Americans that a 'hearty breakfast' must include eggs and bacon, as opposed to the traditional toast and coffee, he also managed to persuade women at the time that cigarettes were a symbol of man's power and domination; to challenge the male sense of superiority, women needed to smoke. A few public stunts later, sales of cigarettes (which Bernays termed 'torches of freedom') soared, eventually doubling the market for tobacco manufacturers, who, amongst many other businesses, were Bernays' clients.

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