Century of the Self
John Levine
EDF 4050
Dr. Fer
March 25, 2006
Summary: Century of the Self Documentary
Before the beginning of the twentieth century, propaganda was used to promote political ideologies, national and international conflicts and mostly, the “call to war”. The BBC documentary on the birth of Public Relations, explores how many psychological theories developed by Sigmund Freud were used by his nephew, Edward Bernays, to manipulate the unconsciousness of the masses. By linking mass produced goods to the unconscious desires of the public, Barnays discovered that people could be persuaded to want things they did not need. Bernays investigated and applied techniques of mass-consumer persuasion, using any means to achieve the profit goal of corporations and his ambitions. He was the first one to associate a product to an ideal, and by associating cigarettes to the idea of freedom and independence, the taboo of female smoking in public was brought down. Barnays was also convinced that the theory of idealizing a consumer product would prove useful if applied to government systems for the approval and control of the masses. He thought as a philosopher and proposed using reversed psychology to unleash the irrational being of the person, and by pleasing their irrational inner desires, people could be made happy and docile.
The post-war American businesses tried to control the masses using Barnay’s ideas, believing that deep within all human beings there were dangerous and irrational desires and fears. By companies producing vast amounts of consumer-goods, the behavior of their customers became primitive, instinctual and the engine that boosted and brought down American economy. Barnays had achieved the emotional connections between products and humans and consumer persuasion through the belief that, “you will feel better if you have it”. The Administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt though, opposed to such aggressive business concept, believed that the only way to make
EDF 4050
Dr. Fer
March 25, 2006
Summary: Century of the Self Documentary
Before the beginning of the twentieth century, propaganda was used to promote political ideologies, national and international conflicts and mostly, the “call to war”. The BBC documentary on the birth of Public Relations, explores how many psychological theories developed by Sigmund Freud were used by his nephew, Edward Bernays, to manipulate the unconsciousness of the masses. By linking mass produced goods to the unconscious desires of the public, Barnays discovered that people could be persuaded to want things they did not need. Bernays investigated and applied techniques of mass-consumer persuasion, using any means to achieve the profit goal of corporations and his ambitions. He was the first one to associate a product to an ideal, and by associating cigarettes to the idea of freedom and independence, the taboo of female smoking in public was brought down. Barnays was also convinced that the theory of idealizing a consumer product would prove useful if applied to government systems for the approval and control of the masses. He thought as a philosopher and proposed using reversed psychology to unleash the irrational being of the person, and by pleasing their irrational inner desires, people could be made happy and docile.
The post-war American businesses tried to control the masses using Barnay’s ideas, believing that deep within all human beings there were dangerous and irrational desires and fears. By companies producing vast amounts of consumer-goods, the behavior of their customers became primitive, instinctual and the engine that boosted and brought down American economy. Barnays had achieved the emotional connections between products and humans and consumer persuasion through the belief that, “you will feel better if you have it”. The Administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt though, opposed to such aggressive business concept, believed that the only way to make