Reading Bernays essay, I was also struck by how little has really changed in the world of public relations and advertising. It is frightening to think that as far back as 1928 people were already attempting to re-shape the public’s reality through propaganda and selective dissemination of information. I’d like to think society as a whole only recently came to that. I think his ‘new’ technique of “the psychology of public persuasion” is the prevailing means of public relations today. It is upsetting to know Bernays encouraged advertisers to actively research the public in order to discover their weaknesses and prey upon them. It’s even more frightening to think that this still occurs, and that we go along with them, sometimes willingly.
Perhaps because of the date, and perhaps because I also just finished the essay on kairos, I am reminded about how much more fervent public relations/ the manipulating of public opinion became after September 11, 2001. Bernays discussed an experiment in New York endeavoring to chart relationships and attitudes towards specific subjects including religion, morality, and nationalism. He concluded that the attitudes were “often created by a circumstance or circumstances of dramatic moment.” (Manipulating Public Opinion: The Why and the How, pg. 53) I apologize in advance if this offends any readers, but I can’t help being reminded how bombarded we were (and continue to be) by images of that day by companies trying to sell war, cars, clothing, insurance, presidential nominees, hot dogs, and a hundred other consumable goods. It appeared that every item offered came to us under the guise of patriotism, and while I’m sure this did strengthen our sense of community, and help us feel we as individuals could avenge the attacks, this form of propaganda quickly became just that – propaganda. It ultimately served to diminish and even ridicule the events: you need to drive a Hummer to protect your family in the event terrorists come to your street; you should refer to french fries as “freedom fries” to show your support for America and dissatisfaction for a country unwilling to blindly follow yours into war; you should buy American products, vacation within America, sticker an American flag on your car and insist the rest of the world adhere to American beliefs and ideals to give yourself peace of mind.
Bernays states, in his argument against the dangers inherent in dealing with public opinion, “ So that every man who teaches the public how to ask for what it wants is at the same time teaching the public how to safeguard itself against his own possible tyrannous aggressiveness.” (Manipulating Public Opinion: The Why and the How, pg. 52) Why is it we as the public haven’t risen up to defend ourselves against the dictators of public opinion?
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US Public Relations may have begun with Bernays. The nature of public relations today has many domains of practice (40 different forms of practice in my recent study) and suggests that forms of PR practice we would recognise today date back before writing (6/8000 years).
Manipulating public opinion is in the nature of social animals and so PR may have a history that goes much further back.
The domains of PR practice that enhance the value of relationships between organisations and their stakeholders means they are are part of the wider practice of Public Relations. This overarching practice is a unique management practice and is the only management/social practice that creates new values and thereby new wealth.
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