OBIT: EDWARD L. BERNAYS, 103; "Father of PR"

Cambridge, MA. March 9, 1995. Edward L. Bernays, the oft-dubbed "Father of
Public Relations," died today at the age of 103.

Bernays, the nephew of Sigmund Freud, was a seminal innovator in what he
termed the "social science" of influencing public opinion and behavior.

At a time when public relations concentrated on influencing government
policy, Bernays took his clients' messages directly to the people, and
referred to his work by the famous phrase, "the engineering of consent."
He pioneered the use by celebrities, doctors and other "experts" to
endorse products, and made careful use of surveys and opinion polls.

He promoted World War I, the NAACP and the ACLU. He also is credited with
forging the acceptance of women smoking in the twenties, though in the
early sixties, when he learned cigarettes caused lung cancer, he became a
fierce anti-smoking opponent, and in 1970 fought to have tobacco ads
removed from radio and TV.

Bernays' cigarette client was the American Tobacco Co. Some of his most
famous stunts were created while hawking their flagship brand, Lucky
Strike. 

From PR Watch:

    "On behalf of Lucky Strike, Bernays sought the advice of the
psychoanalyst A.A. Brill. Brill's message to Bernays and the American
Tobacco company was "freedom": sell cigarettes to women as a symbol of
liberation.

    "Following this advice, Bernays staged a legendary publicity event
that is still taught as an example in PR schools. He hired beautiful
fashion models to march in New York's prominent Easter parade, each waving
a lit cigarette and wearing a banner proclaiming it a "torch of liberty."
Bernays made sure that publicity photos of his smoking models appeared
world-wide."

Bernays did not care for modern-day public relations, and In 1990 in his
home state of Massachusetts, he lobbied (unsuccessfully) to require public
relations practitioners be licensed. He once said that those "who
understand the mental processes and social patterns of the masses ... pull
the wires which control the public mind."

Ann Douglas wrote in "Terrible Honesty: Mongrel Manhattan in the 1920s,"
that "Edward Bernays . . . orchestrated the commercialization of a
culture..."

An Austrian immigrant, Bernays worked in Wilson's War Office, where he
learned his  trade propagandizing for World War I.

Among the clients he turned down: Adolf Hitler, Francisco Franco and
Nicaragua's Anastasio Somoza. Goebbels kept a copy of Bernays' book,
``Crystalising Public Opinion'' (1923) on his desk.

Bernays also wrote, "Biography of an Idea: Memoirs of Public Relations
Counsel Edward L. Bernays," and "The Later Years: Public Relations
Insights 1956-1986," and "Propaganda."

From "Propaganda":

"The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and
opinions of the masses is an important element in a democratic society...
Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an
invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country." 

More of the millieu, from PR WATCH:

    "Edward Bernays, Ivy Lee and John Hill today are legends within the PR
profession. Bernays in particular is often referred to as the "father of
PR." All three worked on PR for tobacco, pioneering techniques that today
remain the PR industry's stock in trade: third party advocacy, subliminal
message reinforcement, junk science, phony front groups, advocacy
advertising, and buying favorable news reporting with advertising dollars.

    "During the Roaring Twenties, the American Tobacco Company turned to
PR to develop a vast new market-American women--for sales of Lucky Strike
cigarettes. The company first hired adman A.D. Lasker, whose
advertisements featured female opera stars, their soprano voices somehow
unaffected by their love for Luckies.

    "Lasker portrayed Lucky Strikes as a healthy cigarette by concocting
surveys using spurious data to claim that doctors preferred Luckies as the
'less irritating' brand. However, his most effective campaign urged women
to 'Reach for a Lucky instead of a sweet' The campaign increased Lucky
sales threefold in just twelve months."