By Brittany Robinson
Edward Bernays is known as the father of public relations. Bernays began the field of public relations without even knowing that he was creating a career for himself when he promoted the play "Damaged Goods," which was having difficultly raising the appropriate funds. For several years, Bernays continued to publicize theater productions until World War I when he offered his services to the government to promote public support for the war.
In 1922, Bernays married his business partner, Doris E. Fleishmann. Together, the pair promised to shape public opinion in the interest of their clients, or what we know as public relations.
Two of Bernays' best known public relations campaigns were Ivory soap and Lucky Stripe cigarettes.
Bernays' Ivory soap campaign was successful when he hired a medical consultant to see which soap the hospitals preferred, the white and unperfumed Ivory soap or the color and perfumed competitors. Ivory soap was then backed by the medical community. In order to keep the Ivory name fresh in the public, Bernays organized Ivory soap-sculpturing contests and soap-boat races.
Bernays' most influential work, however, is the work he did for Lucky Strike cigarettes for women. Bernays' was able to influence the fashion world into making the color green in-style so the Lucky Strike cigarette carton would match women's outfits. Also, society frowned down on women who smoked in public. Bernays' transformed this view by holding a parade on Easter Sunday that feature debutantes walking down Fifth Avenue smoking. This was marked as an act of liberation for women all across the country. Bernays was even successful at promoting the cigarettes as a substitute for a sweet treat.
Bernays taught the first public relations class at a major university in 1923 at New York University. Bernays remained a public relations advocate until he passed away in 1995 at the age of 103 years old.
5 comments:
It's interesting to hear the story about the man behind the spin- you always hear then name Bernays but it is interesting to see how he got his start!
I really enjoyed your blog about Bernays. It sounds like an interesting book. It was great how you used the Lucky Strike example to make your point about the need for ethics in the public relations industry.
I remember learning about Bernays in my Intro to Public Relations course. What a statement it was for him in his time to advertise for women. I can't believe he lived to be 103 years. I bet he lived a very interesting life.
It is always interesting to learn about the man behind it all. I remember briefly learning about Bernays during an earlier PR course, but I am sure it was valuable to gain a more in depth understanding of Bernays and his contributions to what we are learning. I would love to see photographs of the Ivory soap-sculptures. I bet some really cool sculptures were created!
I just want to echo everyone's sentiments.
A really interesting look into the life of Bernays.
It's always good to know what it was like to be a professional in the past, so we can understand better where we're going.
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