Propaganda by Edward Bernays

Propaganda by Edward Bernays
A Review by David Edwards
It does seem strange that Edward Bernays Public Relations bible should so
blatantly bear the name 'Propaganda', it becomes apparent upon further
inspection that Edward Bernays was attempting to reclaim the word from
negative connotations by exposing the terms religious roots (which in my mind
is no mark of positive connotations in itself) and trying to get away from any
associations with the disinformation uses employed in the First World War. It
was first published in 1926.
Despite any attempts to paint the art of propaganda in a positive

light, Bernays destroys any confidence I might have had in the positive uses
of propaganda in the opening lines and paragraphs of this book:
"The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organised habits and

opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those
who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible
government which is the true ruling power of our country.
We are governed, our minds moulded, our tastes formed, our ideas
suggested, largely by men we have never heard of."
I'm not kidding, this is the sinister opening to the book, Bernays wastes no
time in informing the reader that every aspect of their lives and the decisions
they make are subconsciously led by these 'men we have never heard of.'
This reinforces his elitist view of 'the masses' as brainless cattle who need to
be controlled through 'conscious and intelligent manipulation', unable to be
trusted to govern themselves. This gives Bernays his springboard to continue
his own propaganda efforts on behalf of propaganda itself. There are so
many illuminating quotes in this book (as well as typos) about the early
functions of Public Relations, but I find the most interesting insights come with
Bernays' observations on the functions of the media and Hollywood:
"The media by which special leaders transmit their messages to the public
through propaganda include all the means by which people today transmit
their ideas to one another. 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. ..."
"... The American motion picture is the greatest unconscious carrier of
propaganda in the world today. It is a great distributor for ideas and opinions.
The motion picture can standardise the ideas and habits of a nation. Because
pictures are made to meet market demands, they reflect, emphasise and even
exaggerate broad popular tendencies, rather than stimulate new ideas and
opinions."
Mark Crispin Miller's introduction is uncompromising towards Bernays stance
and has many insights into the truth behind these propaganda methods and
mechanisms, which are still used today. One of these inventions was the
seemingly authoritative 'sponsoring committee', the example used is the
promotion of bacon. The old way to get people to eat more bacon would have
been to place a lot of adverts with affirmative slogans like 'because it is good',
a technique that seems to confrontational to be effective. Bernays used a
more 'scientific' approach:
"The newer salesmanship, understanding the group structure of society and

the principles of mass psychology, would first ask, 'Who is it that influences
the eating habits of the public?' The answer, obviously, is: 'The
Physicians.' The new salesman will then suggest to physicians to say publicly
that it is wholesome to eat bacon. He knows as a mathematical certainty, that
large numbers of persons will follow the advice of their doctors, because he
understands the psychological relation of dependence of men upon their
physicians."
After the publication of this book, Bernays went on to aid corporations and the
government in the United States with building their public relations efforts,
(particularly during the Second World War) sometimes with vicious
implementation of covert US foreign policy:
"In 1953 Bernays helped put across the myth that Guatemala was at risk of
communist subversion - a serviceable legend that the propagandist actually
believed, as he makes clear in his memoirs. Bernays was then employed by
the United Fruit Company, at whose behest the Eisenhower administration
used the CIA to overthrow the democratically elected government of Jacobo
Arbenz."
This is a book that has literally helped shape the madness we now live in.
I'd like to close with a final quote from the introduction:

"That propaganda easily seduces even those whom it most horrifies is a
paradox that Bernays grasped completely; and it is one that we must try at
last to understand, if we want to change the world that Edward Bernays,
among others, made for us."
Further Reading:
"...In 1954, for his clients, the Eisenhower Administration and the United Fruit
Company, the public relations expert Edward Bernays engineered American
popular consent for the 1954 Guatemalan coup d‘état to overthrow the a
capitalist democracy in Central America. The propaganda operation used the
North American press to frighten the US public into believing that President
Árbenz Guzmán was a Communist and a political puppet of the USSR, and,
therefore, that Guatemala had become a Soviet beachhead in the Western
Hemisphere, the backyard of the United States. The principal American news
media — press and radio, television and cinema — misinformed the American
public that the Árbenz Government had been overthrown by the CIA, and,
instead, misrepresented the Guatemalan coup d’état as a liberation from
Communist tyranny, by Guatemalan freedom fighters who fought to restore
democracy to the Republic of Guatemala.
A case officer said that the Central Intelligence Agency did little to hide
knowledge of its paramilitary invasion of Guatemala from the American public,
“The figleaf was very transparent, threadbare.”
The New York Times celebrated the Guatemalan coup d’état as “the first
successful anti-Communist revolt since the last war.”
Moreover, in the same newspaper, Milton Brackersan misinformed readers,

that “there is no evidence that the United States provided material aid or
guidance” to the anti-Communist freedom fighters, and that “the the overturn
meets only part of the problem of Communism. We must convince the Latin
Americans that our way of life is superior to that of the Communists.”
The New York Times further explained that “Castillo Armas had the moral
support of the United States; the Árbenz régime had the support of the Soviet
Union.”[38] The New Republic magazine said that “it was just our luck that
Castillo Armas did come by some second-hand lethal weapons, from Heaven
knows where.” Newsweek magazine said that “the United States, aside from
whatever gumshoe work the Central Intelligence Agency may or may not have
been busy with, had kept hands strictly off”; that the Eisenhower
Administration could have hastened the overthrowing of President Árbenz
Guzmán, “overnight, if necessary: by halting coffee purchases, shutting off oil
and gasoline from Guatemala, or, as a last resort, by promoting a border
incident, and sending Marines to help the Hondurans; and that, instead, the
US followed the letter of the law”, because President Jacobo Árbenz Guzmán
was overthrown “in the best possible way: by the Guatemalans.”
In 1976, about how eagerly co-operative the American press were in

engineering public consent for the the United States’ overthrowing of the
capitalist democracy of the Republic of Guatemala, the United Fruit Company
public relations officer Thomas P. McCann, said,
'For about eight years [1953–1960] a great deal of the news of Central
America, which appeared in the North American press, was supplied, edited,
and sometimes made up by United Fruit’s public relations department in New
York. It is difficult to make a convincing case for manipulation of the press,
when the victims proved so eager for the experience.'
- An American Company: The Tragedy of United Fruit (1976)" ...
[...]

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Propaganda by Edward Bernays

A Review by David Edwards

Despite any attempts to paint the art of propaganda in a positive

"The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organised habits and

"The newer salesmanship, understanding the group structure of society and

I'd like to close with a final quote from the introduction:

Moreover, in the same newspaper, Milton Brackersan misinformed readers,

In 1976, about how eagerly co-operative the American press were in

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