Public Relations:  From Obscurity to Worldwide Phenomenon
Thanks to Edward Bernays

Peter Turkington
Feature Article
CCM 702 BB

Thursday, February 26, 2004

What is public relations?  Simply put, public relations is organized ethical persuasion of various publics to a particular point of view.  The definition of international public relations differs only in that you have to cross language, cultural, geographic, and historical barriers in order to persuade your audiences.

While the term public relations is relatively recent, the practice of communications has existed, under different names, since the dawn of human history.

“I could give you countless examples.  In the Bible, Moses has a PR man.  It was his older brother, Aaron, who was named as his ‘spokesman,’” says John M. Reed, APR, Professor of Communications at American University.  “The U.S. practice of public relations was certainly the worldwide model starting after World War II.  However, the origins of public relations go back to Adam and Eve,” he continues.

But how did the U.S. approach to public relations become the prevailing method worldwide?  The answer – Edward Bernays, the father of modern public relations practice.

Edward Bernays was born in Vienna on November 22, 1891.  He was the nephew of Sigmund Freud and the person responsible for promoting Freud’s work in the United States.  It was Bernays that had Freud’s work published for the first time in North America.

In publicizing his uncle’s work, Bernays became a believer in applying psychological analysis to public relations practice.  He began to rely heavily on the social sciences to mould public opinion, referring to it as, “the engineering of consent.”

As he gained a reputation in the public relations field, Bernays came to see himself as a psychoanalyst to troubled corporations.  However, he also saw his role as that of being an advocate for the public relations profession – publishing four books on the subject (Crystallizing Public Opinion, Propaganda, The Engineering of Consent, and Biography of an Idea).  His writings on the communications field have been published all over the world.

Even though he was proud of his world-renowned status, Bernays was distressed by how public relations contributed to the rise of the Nazi Party in Germany, during the 1930s.  He was appalled upon learning that Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi Minister of Information, had Crystallizing Public Opinion by his side as he conducted countless destructive propaganda campaigns.

From then on, Bernays began to focus his public relations campaigns on dissuading the public from radical political thought.  Instead, he tried to direct the public’s focus on being consumers by linking consumption to patriotism.  This is evident in his response to atomic tests by the Russians in 1958 – telling the American public to buy automobiles in order to keep the economy strong and defeat communism.  Both the Bush (U.S.) and Blair (U.K.) administrations advised their constituents to increase consumption after September 11, 2001.

In November 1991, at the age of 100, Bernays took his advocacy for public relations as a profession to the Massachusetts State Legislature.  He prepared and submitted a bill for the licensing of public relations.  Unfortunately, the bill failed to pass.  It was widely seen as a symbolic gesture to the man who had shaped modern public relations.  However, Bernays immediately began looking for ways to improve the bill and re-submit it.  He wrote articles and speeches stating his view that licensing could lead to a defined body of knowledge and a universal code of ethics.  Furthermore, he argued for the ability to disbar those in violation in order to maintain the credibility, and integrity, of public relations practice.

Although passionate on the subject of public relations as a regulated profession, on the international stage, Edward Bernays would not see it come to pass.  Bernays died before his second draft of Bill 374 was completed.  The debate on regulating public relations as a profession continues today.

Edward Bernays was present at almost every major historical event during the 20^th Century.  He advised U.S. Presidents, promoted Ivory Soap for Proctor and Gamble, and organized events showcasing television when it was just a new technology.  Bernays’ use of celebrity endorsements, testimony from industry experts, focus groups, his writings and speeches have set the standards for today’s practice of both public relations and market research throughout the world.

Edward L. Bernays is not only the father of modern public relations.  His efforts have helped to catapult the communications role onto the international stage.  Through the work of Bernays, and others who have followed in his footsteps, public relations has become a strategic management function in companies that operate on a global scale.  Thus, it is only fair that Bernays be referred to as ‘the father of modern international public relations practice.’