Friday, April 22, 2005

Alix Spiegel: Freud's Nephew and the Origins of Public Relations

Freud's Nephew and the Origins of Public Relations
by Alix Spiegel
NPR

Years ago, Americans grabbed toast and coffee for breakfast. Public-relations pioneer Edward Bernays changed that.

Bernays used his Uncle Sigmund Freud's ideas to help convince the public, among other things, that bacon and eggs was the true all-American breakfast.

He took Freud's complex ideas on people's unconscious, psychological motivations and applied them to the new field of public relations.

Read/Listen to the History

1 comment:

Michael said...

It was a great piece, I heard it while driving in to work on friday, and sat in the parking lot until it was over. The only other reference I had heard of Bernay's was much more critical, and never mentioned that he was Freud's nephew--makes a lot more sense now.

Memsamechun, you are right on, this is one of the most important questions:

"the *deep* question really is how much of a grip can we get on our unconscious/subconscious before someone else does?"

Beppe, they ignore him at their own peril ;)

Thanks!