Propaganda, Edward Bernays, 1928 - ch 3
CHAPTER III
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THE NEW PROPAGANDISTS
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WHO are the men who, without our realizing it, give us our
ideas, tell us whom to admire and whom to despise, what to believe
about the ownership of public utilities, about the tariff, about the
price of rubber, about the Dawes Plan, about immigration; who tell us
how our houses should be designed, what furniture we should put into
them, what menus we should serve on our table, what kind of shirts we
must wear, what sports we should indulge in, what plays we should see,
what charities we should support, what pictures we should admire, what
slang we should affect, what jokes we should laugh at?
If we set out to make a list of the men and women who, because
of their position in public life, might fairly be called the molders
of public opinion, we could quickly arrive at an extended list of
persons mentioned in "Who's Who." It would obviously include, the
President of the United States and the members of his Cabinet; the
Senators and Representatives in Congress; the Governors of our
fortyeight states; the presidents of the chambers of commerce in our
hundred largest cities, the chairmen of the boards of directors of our
hundred or more largest industrial corporations, the president of many
of the labor unions affiliated in the American Federation of Labor,
the national president of each of the national professional and
fraternal organizations, the president of each of the racial or
language societies in the country, the hundred leading newspaper and
magazine editors, the fifty most popular authors, the presidents of
the fifty leading charitable organizations, the twenty leading
theatrical or cinema producers, the hundred recognized leaders of
fashion, the most popular and influential clergymen in the hundred
leading cities, the presidents of our colleges and universities and
the foremost members of their faculties, the most powerful financiers
in Wall Street, the most noted amateurs of sport, and so on. Such a
list would comprise several thousand persons. But it is well known
that many of these leaders are themselves led, sometimes by persons
whose names are known to few. Many a congressman, in framing his
platform, follows the suggestions of a district boss whom few persons
outside the political machine have ever heard of. Eloquent divines may
have great influence in their communities, but often take their
doctrines from a higher ecclesiastical authority. The presidents of
chambers of commerce mold the thought of local business men concerning
public issues, but the opinions which they promulgate are usually
derived from some national authority. A presidential candidate may be
"drafted" in response to "overwhelming popular demand," but it is well
known that his name may be decided upon by half a dozen men sitting
around a table in a hotel room.
In some instances the power of invisible wirepullers is
flagrant. The power of the invisible cabinet which deliberated at the
poker table in a certain little green house in Washington has become a
national legend. There was a period in which the major policies of the
national government were dictated by a single man, Mark Hanna. A
Simmons may, for a few years, succeed in marshaling millions of men on
a platform of intolerance and violence.
Such persons typify in the public mind the type of ruler
associated with the phrase invisible government. But we do not often
stop to think that there are dictators in other fields whose influence
is just as decisive as that of the politicians I have mentioned. An
Irene Castle can establish the fashion of short hair which dominates
nine-tenths of the women who make any pretense to being fashionable.
Paris fashion leaders set the mode of the short skirt, for wearing
which, twenty years ago, any woman would simply have been arrested and
thrown into jail by the New York police, and the entire women's
clothing industry, capitalized at hundreds of millions of dollars,
must be reorganized to conform to their dictum.
There are invisible rulers who control the destinies of
millions. It is not generally realized to what extent the words and
actions of our most influential public men are dictated by shrewd
persons operating behind the scenes.
Nor, what is still more important, the extent to which our
thoughts and habits are modified by authorities.
In some departments of our daily life, in which we imagine
ourselves free agents, we are ruled by dictators exercising great
power. A man buying a suit of clothes imagines that he is choosing,
according to his taste and his personality, the kind of garment which
he prefers. In reality, he may be obeying the orders of an anonymous
gentleman tailor in London. This personage is the silent partner in a
modest tailoring establishment, which is patronized by gentlemen of
fashion and princes of the blood. He suggests to British noblemen and
others a blue cloth instead of gray, two buttons instead of three, or
sleeves a quarter of an inch narrower than last season. The
distinguished customer approves of the idea.
But how does this fact affect John Smith of Topeka?
The gentleman tailor is under contract with a certain large
American firm, which manufactures men's suits, to send them instantly
the designs of the suits chosen by the leaders of London fashion. Upon
receiving the designs, with specifications as to color, weight and
texture, the firm immediately places an order with the cloth makers
for several hundred thousand dollars' worth of cloth. The suits made
up according to the specifications are then advertised as the latest
fashion. The fashionable men in New York, Chicago, Boston and
Philadelphia wear them. And the Topeka man, recognizing this
leadership, does the same.
Women are just as subject to the commands of invisible
government as are men. A silk manufacturer, seeking a new market for
its product, suggested to a large manufacturer of shoes that women's
shoes should be covered with silk to match their dresses. The idea was
adopted and systematically propagandized. A popular actress was
persuaded to wear the shoes. The fashion spread. The shoe firm was
ready with the supply to meet the created demand. And the silk company
was ready with the silk for more shoes.
The man who injected this idea into the shoe industry was ruling
women in one department of their social lives. Different men rule us
in the various departments of our lives. There may be one power behind
the throne in politics, another in the manipulation of the Federal
discount rate, and still another in the dictation of next season's
dances. If there were a national invisible cabinet ruling our
destinies (a thing which is not impossible to conceive of) it would
work through certain group leaders on Tuesday for one purpose, and
through an entirely different set on Wednesday for another. The idea
of invisible government is relative. There may be a handful of men who
control the educational methods of the great majority of our schools.
Yet from another standpoint, every parent is a group leader with
authority over his or her children.
The invisible government tends to be concentrated in the hands
of the few because of the expense of manipulating the social machinery
which controls the opinions and habits of the masses. To advertise on
a scale which will reach fifty million persons is expensive. To reach
and persuade the group leaders who dictate the public's thoughts and
actions is likewise expensive.
For this reason there is an increasing tendency to concentrate
the functions of propaganda in the hands of the propaganda specialist.
This specialist is more and more assuming a distinct place and
function in our national life.
New activities call for new nomenclature. The propagandist who
specializes in interpreting enterprises and ideas to the public, and
in interpreting the public to promulgators of new enterprises and
ideas, has come to be known by the name of "public relations counsel."
The new profession of public relations has grown up because of
the increasing complexity of modern life and the consequent necessity
for making the actions of one part of the public understandable to
other sectors of the public. It is due, too, to the increasing
dependence of organized power of all sorts upon public opinion.
Governments, whether they are monarchical, constitutional, democratic
or communist, depend upon acquiescent public opinion for the success
of their efforts and, in fact, government is only government by virtue
of public acquiescence. Industries, public utilities, educational
movements, indeed all groups representing any concept or product,
whether they are majority or minority ideas, succeed only because of
approving public opinion. Public opinion is the unacknowledged partner
in all broad efforts.
The public relations counsel, then, is the agent who, working
with modern media of communication and the group formations of
society, brings an idea to the consciousness of the public. But he is
a great deal more than that. He is concerned with courses of action,
doctrines, systems and opinions, and the securing of public support
for them. He is also concerned with tangible things such as
manufactured and raw products. He is concerned with public utilities,
with large trade groups and associations representing entire
industries.
He functions primarily as an adviser to his client, very much as
a lawyer does. A lawyer concentrates on the legal aspects of his
client's business. A counsel on public relations concentrates on the
public contacts of his client's business. Every phase of his client's
ideas, products or activities which may affect the public or in which
the public may have an interest is part of his function.
For instance, in the specific problems of the manufacturer he
examines the product, the markets, the way in which the public reacts
to the product, the attitude of the employees to the public and
towards the product, and the cooperation of the distribution agencies.
The counsel on public relations, after he has examined all these
and other factors, endeavors to shape the actions of his client so
that they will gain the interest, the approval and the acceptance of
the public.
The means by which the public is apprised of the actions of his
client are as varied as the means of communication themselves, such as
conversation, letters, the stage, the motion picture, the radio, the
lecture platform, the magazine, the daily newspaper. The counsel on
public relations is not an advertising man but he advocates
advertising where that is indicated. Very often he is called in by an
advertising agency to supplement its work on behalf of a client. His
work and that of the advertising agency do not conflict with or
duplicate each other.
His first efforts are, naturally, devoted to analyzing his
client's problems and making sure that what he has to offer the public
is something which the public accepts or can be brought to accept. It
is futile to attempt to sell an idea or to prepare the ground for a
product that is basically unsound.
For example, an orphan asylum is worried by a falling off in
contributions and a puzzling attitude of indifference or hostility on
the part of the public. The counsel on public relations may discover
upon analysis that the public, alive to modern sociological trends,
subconsciously criticizes the institution because it is not organized
on the new "cottage plan." He will advise modification of the client
in this respect. Or a railroad may be urged to put on a fast train for
the sake of the prestige which it will lend to the road's name, and
hence to its stocks and bonds.
If the corset makers, for instance, wished to bring their
product into fashion again, he would unquestionably advise that the
plan was impossible, since women have definitely emancipated
themselves from the old-style corset. Yet his fashion advisers might
report that women might be persuaded to adopt a certain type of girdle
which eliminated the unhealthful features of the corset.
His next effort is to analyze his public. He studies the groups
which must be reached, and the leaders through whom he may approach
these groups. Social groups, economic groups, geographical groups, age
groups, doctrinal groups, language groups, cultural groups, all these
represent the divisions through which, on behalf of his client, he may
talk to the public.
Only after this double analysis has been made and the results
collated, has the time come for the next step, the formulation of
policies governing the general practice, procedure and habits of the
client in all those aspects in which he comes in contact with the
public. And only when these policies have been agreed upon is it time
for the fourth step.
The first recognition of the distinct functions of the public
relations counsel arose, perhaps, in the early years of the present
century as a result of the insurance scandals coincident with the
muck-raking of corporate finance in the popular magazines. The
interests thus attacked suddenly realized that they were completely
out of touch with the public they were professing to serve, and
required expert advice to show them how they could understand the
public and interpret themselves to it.
The Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, prompted by the most
fundamental self-interest, initiated a conscious, directed effort to
change the attitude of the public toward insurance companies in
general, and toward itself in particular, to its profit and the
public's benefit.
It tried to make a majority movement of itself by getting the
public to buy its policies. It reached the public at every point of
its corporate and separate existences. To communities it gave health
surveys and expert counsel. To individuals it gave health creeds and
advice. Even the building in which the corporation was located was
made a picturesque landmark to see and remember, in other words to
carry on the associative process. And so this company came to have a
broad general acceptance. The number and amount of its policies grew
constantly, as its broad contacts with society increased.
Within a decade, many large corporations were employing public
relations counsel under one title or another, for they had come to
recognize that they depended upon public good will for their continued
prosperity. It was no longer true that it was "none of the public's
business" how the affairs of a corporation were managed. They were
obliged to convince the public that they were conforming to its
demands as to honesty and fairness. Thus a corporation might discover
that its labor policy was causing public resentment, and might
introduce a more enlightened policy solely for the sake of general
good will. Or a department store, hunting for the cause of diminishing
sales, might discover that its clerks had a reputation for bad
manners, and initiate formal instruction in courtesy and tact.
The public relations expert may be known as public relations
director or counsel. Often he is called secretary or vice-president or
director. Sometimes he is known as cabinet officer or commissioner. By
whatever title he may be called, his function is well defined and his
advice has definite bearing on the conduct of the group or individual
with whom he is working.
Many persons still believe that the public relations counsel is
a propagandist and nothing else. But, on the contrary, the stage at
which many suppose he starts his activities may actually be the stage
at which he ends them. After the public and the client are thoroughly
analyzed and policies have been formulated, his work may be finished.
In other cases the work of the public relations counsel must be
continuous to be effective. For in many instances only by a careful
system of constant, thorough and frank information will the public
understand and appreciate the value of what a merchant, educator or
statesman is doing. The counsel on public relations must maintain
constant vigilance, because inadequate information, or false
information from unknown sources, may have results of enormous
importance. A single false rumor at a critical moment may drive down
the price of a corporation's stock, causing a loss of millions to
stockholders. An air of secrecy or mystery about a corporation's
financial dealings may breed a general suspicion capable of acting as
an invisible drag on the company's whole dealings with the public. The
counsel on public relations must be in a position to deal effectively
with rumors and suspicions, attempting to stop them at their source,
counteracting them promptly with correct or more complete information
through channels which will be most effective, or best of all
establishing such relations of confidence in the concern's integrity
that rumors and suspicions will have no opportunity to take root.
His function may include the discovery of new markets, the
existence of which had been unsuspected.
If we accept public relations as a profession, we must also
expect it to have both ideals and ethics. The ideal of the profession
is a pragmatic one. It is to make the producer, whether that producer
be a legislature making laws or a manufacturer making a commercial
product, understand what the public wants and to make the public
understand the objectives of the producer. In relation to industry,
the ideal of the profession is to eliminate the waste and the friction
that result when industry does things or makes things which its public
does not want, or when the public does not understand what is being
offered it. For example, the telephone companies maintain extensive
public relations departments to explain what they are doing, so that
energy may not be burned up in the friction of misunderstanding. A
detailed description, for example, of the immense and scientific care
which the company takes to choose clearly understandable and
distinguishable exchange names, helps the public to appreciate the
effort that is being made to give good service, and stimulates it to
cooperate by enunciating clearly. It aims to bring about an
understanding between educators and educated, between government and
people, between charitable institutions and contributors, between
nation and nation.
The profession of public relations counsel is developing for
itself an ethical code which compares favorably with that governing
the legal and medical professions. In part, this code is forced upon
the public relations counsel by the very conditions of his work. While
recognizing, just as the lawyer does, that every one has the right to
present his case in its best light, he nevertheless refuses a client
whom he believes to be dishonest, a product which he believes to be
fraudulent, or a cause which he believes to be antisocial. One reason
for this is that, even though a special pleader, he is not dissociated
from the client in the public's mind. Another reason is that while he
is pleading before the court--the court of public opinion--he is at
the same time trying to affect that court's judgments and actions. In
law, the judge and jury hold the deciding balance of power. In public
opinion, the public relations counsel is judge and jury, because
through his pleading of a case the public may accede to his opinion
and judgment.
He does not accept a client whose interests conflict with those
of another client. He does not accept a client whose case he believes
to be hopeless or whose product he believes to be unmarketable.
He should be candid in his dealings. It must be repeated that
his business is not to fool or hoodwink the public. If he were to get
such a reputation, his usefulness in his profession would be at an
end. When he is sending out propaganda material, it is clearly labeled
as to source. The editor knows from whom it comes and what its purpose
is, and accepts or rejects it on its merits as news.
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