Ronan read Propaganda - so you didn't have to...
Fast Facts
Week: 6
Title : Propaganda
Author: Edward L. Bernays
Rating: 9/10
Adapted from Ronan's LinkedIn newsletter 22/02/2023 -
Books I've Read For You
Summary
This book is a must-read for anyone interested in marketing, persuasion, or the spread of ideas. Although written more than 95 years ago it contains the core elements of influence and psychology which are relevant today.
One Key Takeaway or Insight
Consent
In the manufacture of consent, our thoughts and actions are compensatory substitutes for desires that we are obliged to suppress. There is hardly a single item published that does not or might not, profit or injure someone.
Video version of Book Review
Too lazy to read the summary? Watch instead.
* Common Sense Events has rebranded to Uncommon Experiences
Introduction
Are you interested in learning about the power of propaganda and its impact on society? Edward L. Bernays, often referred to as the "father of public relations," wrote a groundbreaking book on this very topic. In "Propaganda," Bernays explores the methods and ethics behind manipulating public opinion for political and corporate gains.
This book summary will provide you with a comprehensive overview of Bernays' key arguments and insights. You will gain a deeper understanding of how propaganda is used to shape public perception and control behavior.
Breaking news: Breakfast is NOT the most important meal of the day, here’s why…
You should read this book if you would like to understand the influence that PR has on how both you and your customers think.
The famous psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud’s nephew Edward Bernays grew up in the US. He’s considered the founding father of PR (Public Relations) which evolved from propaganda.
Prior to WW1, the term propaganda was seldom used and the word meant the total opposite of what it’s now associated with; denoting lies, half-truths, and other tricks and manipulation.
The Allied campaign to celebrate (or sell) Democracy was so successful that it suddenly legitimised propagandists. Many of the propagandists moved into working for large businesses after the war.
Propaganda is “the manufacture of consent”.
Edward Bernays legitimised his craft by re-labeling it “Counsel of Public Relations”.
He believed that PR’s aim was NOT to urge a buyer to demand a product, but to transform the buyer's very world. So that the product must appear to be desirable as if it happened without the prod of salesmanship. Attempting to discover the prevailing custom, and how might that be changed?
To advertise a product you must believe in it.
To convince, you must be convinced yourself.
We are governed, our minds are moulded, our tastes formed, and our ideas suggested, largely by men and women we have never heard of.
Many of our thoughts and actions are compensatory substitutes for desires which we are obliged to suppress. A thing may be desired not for its intrinsic worth or usefulness, but unconsciously it’s a symbol of something else, the desire for which we are ashamed to admit to ourselves.
We are largely actuated by motives which are concealed from ourselves, also true of both mass and individual psychology. A successful propagandist must understand the true motives and not be content to accept the face-value reason or explanations people give for what they do.
The greatest enemy of any attempt to change people’s habits is inertia.
Civilization is limited by inertia.
There is no means of human communication which may not also be a means of deliberate propaganda, because propaganda is simply the establishing of reciprocal understanding between an individual and a group.
There is hardly a single item published that does not or might not, profit or injure someone. That is the nature of news.
No matter how sophisticated or how cynical the public may become about publicity methods, they must respond to the basic appeals because they will always need food, crave amusement, long for beauty, and respond to leadership. (Written 1928)
Two of Bernays’ most famous PR campaigns
Bacon and Eggs for Breakfast.
Bernays hired a well-known New York physician to ask doctors all over the country whether a light breakfast or a heavy breakfast was better. The doctors confirmed, in Bernays’ words, that a heavy breakfast was “scientifically desirable” and sales of Bacon and Eggs soared.
Women Smokers
American Tobacco Company hired Bernays to help increase women's smoking. At the 1929 Easter Parade Bernays hired ten women who showed up for the “Torches of Freedom” by smoking in public and being interviewed. After the parade cigarette sales to women increased.
Summary:
This book is a must-read for anyone interested in marketing, persuasion, or the spread of ideas. Although written more than 95 years ago it contains the core elements of influence and psychology which are relevant today.
1 Key Takeaway/Insight:
In the manufacture of consent, our thoughts and actions are compensatory substitutes for desires that we are obliged to suppress. There is hardly a single item published that does not or might not, profit or injure someone.
You may also enjoy reading these...