Comments on Bernays

First of all, if anyone knows how to indent, I would welcome that information. I just read "Manipulating the Public Opinion" and realized that, for something written in 1928, a lot of the techniques he discussed still applied today. For instance, the refusal to buy certain products until approved by Paris could be paralleled to reading fashion magazines or watching E! nowadays.

The story about the NAICP also intrigued me. For one thing, I'm suprised that they would say the organization was for the improvement of colored people, like they were defective. I guess that's why they changed the name. It was interesting to discover that they put so much PR-esque thought into factors such as location, guests, and publicity of the conference. Reading that story historically, I wouldn't think anything of it. The problem was in the South, so the conference should be in the South. But it was all part of manipulating public opinion.

Another similarity I see is the complete lack of boundaries for advertising. Case in point: salad dressing art expo. I had to shake my head, but it worked. Bernays made several good points, and I agree that public relations is a science. However, PR as a public service is a little hard to swallow.

Getting people to buy big hats instead of little felt ones is not a public service. It's an industrial service. I suppose in the big picture, it allows more people to have jobs at that company. Even so, it's not exactly providing shelter for the homeless. However, it can convince wealthier people to do so.