Star Tribune, September 26, 2010 - 2:45 PM
Minneapolis
Minneapolis
By Ronald M. Bosrock
"Mad Men," the phenomenally successful TV program, is centered around a fictional advertising agency on Madison Avenue in 1960s New York City. Besides the rich characters the show centers around, it also depicts the rapidly changing social mores of post-World War II America as the country moved toward becoming the ultimate consumer economy promising to fulfill the "American Dream."
While "Mad Men" has been recognized for its entertainment value, one of the more interesting aspects of the series has been the developing story of the role of advertising, public relations and the other working companions of the world of marketing.
The roots of today's public relations industry sprang from the early research of Sigmund Freud and his fellow psychoanalysts in Vienna during the 1920s.
Freud believed that mankind had a dark side and struggled to suppress the hidden tendency toward violence. His early research was an attempt to determine what could be done to make man react in such a way as to control the acts of the masses so that the actions of the inner self did not lead to a violent, unstable society.
The value of this research was not made available for practical application until Freud's nephew, Edward Bernays, who lived in the United States, concluded that this information could be used to control certain aspects of the mind not only to prevent violence but also to influence other aspects of how humans might act. His application of these principles to the world of business earned him the designation of "the father of public relations.
Starting in the 1920s, Bernays was hired by many large businesses who asked him to find out how to sell the public not just what they thought they needed but also what they subconsciously could be made to want.
To help businesses determine what the consumer really wanted, Bernays developed a more benign version of psychoanalysis that became known as the "focus group." One of his first major assignments in the 1920s was to develop a program that would get women to smoke cigarettes in public and thereby create a whole new market for the product.
Bernays created the focus group and tied the smoking of cigarettes to women's individual freedom, as reflected by the Statue of Liberty as a symbol of freedom. Cigarettes were referred to as "torches of freedom." Needless to say, it was a highly successful campaign.
While the business of public relations enjoyed a meteoric rate of growth in those early days, it reached another high point when politicians and government institutions discovered that they, too, could learn to manipulate and "brainwash" the masses to vote for their candidates and support their political agendas.
While Bernays was using the principles of his Uncle Sigmund to understand the relationship with consumers for the purpose of controlling their buying habits, another brilliant and more sinister manipulator of the masses was also at work -- only he preferred to call what he was doing propaganda.
Joseph Goebbels, Adolph Hitler's minister of propaganda, developed a master plan for the Nazis to control the thoughts and actions of the German people as Hitler built his Third Reich. When asked where his ideas came from, Goebbels gave full credit to Bernays.
Wary of such an endorsement by Goebbels, Bernays looked for a new phrase to describe what he had created and invented the term "public relations."
Marketing, public relations and advertising can be a force for good, by helping to inform the public on what products to buy and on consumer safety issues and value assessment issues, as well as explaining complex matters of government policy so that the citizens can make the best-informed decision.
For example, last week the Itasca Project announced that it would be launching a program to sell the image of the Twin Cities nationally in order to attract businesses and jobs to the area. This is a legitimate effort for the good of all the citizens of Minnesota.
But it is also true that today with more outlets for information -- whether in print, electronic or social media -- that individuals are bombarded with more information, both true and false, than ever before.
It is incumbent on all citizens to be aware of what they are being sold, both by the commercial marketplace as well as by the political system. The old Latin warning caveat emptor applies now more than ever, both in the marketplace of products as well as the marketplace of ideas.
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| Sigmund Freud |
While "Mad Men" has been recognized for its entertainment value, one of the more interesting aspects of the series has been the developing story of the role of advertising, public relations and the other working companions of the world of marketing.
The roots of today's public relations industry sprang from the early research of Sigmund Freud and his fellow psychoanalysts in Vienna during the 1920s.
Freud believed that mankind had a dark side and struggled to suppress the hidden tendency toward violence. His early research was an attempt to determine what could be done to make man react in such a way as to control the acts of the masses so that the actions of the inner self did not lead to a violent, unstable society.
The value of this research was not made available for practical application until Freud's nephew, Edward Bernays, who lived in the United States, concluded that this information could be used to control certain aspects of the mind not only to prevent violence but also to influence other aspects of how humans might act. His application of these principles to the world of business earned him the designation of "the father of public relations.
Starting in the 1920s, Bernays was hired by many large businesses who asked him to find out how to sell the public not just what they thought they needed but also what they subconsciously could be made to want.
To help businesses determine what the consumer really wanted, Bernays developed a more benign version of psychoanalysis that became known as the "focus group." One of his first major assignments in the 1920s was to develop a program that would get women to smoke cigarettes in public and thereby create a whole new market for the product.
Bernays created the focus group and tied the smoking of cigarettes to women's individual freedom, as reflected by the Statue of Liberty as a symbol of freedom. Cigarettes were referred to as "torches of freedom." Needless to say, it was a highly successful campaign.
While the business of public relations enjoyed a meteoric rate of growth in those early days, it reached another high point when politicians and government institutions discovered that they, too, could learn to manipulate and "brainwash" the masses to vote for their candidates and support their political agendas.
While Bernays was using the principles of his Uncle Sigmund to understand the relationship with consumers for the purpose of controlling their buying habits, another brilliant and more sinister manipulator of the masses was also at work -- only he preferred to call what he was doing propaganda.
Joseph Goebbels, Adolph Hitler's minister of propaganda, developed a master plan for the Nazis to control the thoughts and actions of the German people as Hitler built his Third Reich. When asked where his ideas came from, Goebbels gave full credit to Bernays.
Wary of such an endorsement by Goebbels, Bernays looked for a new phrase to describe what he had created and invented the term "public relations."
Marketing, public relations and advertising can be a force for good, by helping to inform the public on what products to buy and on consumer safety issues and value assessment issues, as well as explaining complex matters of government policy so that the citizens can make the best-informed decision.
For example, last week the Itasca Project announced that it would be launching a program to sell the image of the Twin Cities nationally in order to attract businesses and jobs to the area. This is a legitimate effort for the good of all the citizens of Minnesota.
But it is also true that today with more outlets for information -- whether in print, electronic or social media -- that individuals are bombarded with more information, both true and false, than ever before.
It is incumbent on all citizens to be aware of what they are being sold, both by the commercial marketplace as well as by the political system. The old Latin warning caveat emptor applies now more than ever, both in the marketplace of products as well as the marketplace of ideas.
Democracy can only function effectively if the people are well informed. The responsibility for being well informed belongs to each of us. It is also our responsibility to be sure we are not being manipulated or brainwashed by the likes of a Bernays or a Goebbels.
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Ronald M. Bosrock of St. Paul is founder and director of the Global Institute, a research center, and is a guest lecturer at the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna. His Global Executive column appears monthly. He can be reached at ron@ bosrock.com
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