Last year, a colleague of mine mentioned that she was “loosely related” to the “godfather” of public relations. I don’t remember how it came up. Nor can I tell you why she wanted me to know. But she did.
His name was Edward Bernays and Stewart Ewen described him in his book “PR! The Social History of Spin,” as “one of the most influential pioneers of American Public Relations.” So, godfather it is!
Bernays was a fascinating man. He was born in Vienna in 1891 and was the double nephew of Sigmund Freud. No surprise, he was, by most accounts I’ve read, absolutely brilliant and perhaps obsessed with understanding the human mind and what motivates us. It also appears he was born to be in what we now call the public relations industry because he was equally obsessed with how words tap into our emotions and, ultimately, prompt our actions.
And, while Ewen did not pursue in this terms, Bernays seemed comfortable knowing that words and the power of persuasion could be used for good or evil, which, he might have argued is more telling.
My recent introduction to Bernays has had a profound impact on my views of the industry. Admittedly, on a day-to-day basis, I’m focused on the products and services that live in a consumers mind, but might not spend enough time discerning why certain things are embedded so deeply in us while others are fast to flee.
