After the lecture on psychoanalysis and we were introduced to Edward Bernays, Richard showed us this documentary below, it is about how Edward Bernays managed to individually develop modern day advertising techniques. I tried to pick out the most important aspects and parts which relate to psychoanalysis in art and design.
The Century of The Self Part 1 of 4
-How men in power have used Freud’s theories to control and manipulate the dangerous crowed in an age of mass democracy
-Edward Bernays Freud’s american nephew
-First person to take Freud’s theories and use them to manipulate the masses.
-Developed a way of advertising that would make people want products they didn't need, by linking mass produced goods to their unconscious desires
-By satisfying peoples unconscious desires makes them happy and in turn ‘Docile’
-About 100 years ago Freud’s theories were hated by the masses, as people felt that any psychoanalysis of individuals was not only embarrassing but would force them to relinquish full control
-It was said that doing this at the time was like ‘selling yourself to somebody’
-Freud’s idea that hidden inside all human beings were dangerous instinctual drives, by analysing people dreams Freud said he had unearthed powerful sexual and aggressive forces which were the remnants of our animal past.
-Edward Bernays at the time of the break out of ww1 worked as a press agent in the USA his main client was the Opera singer Caruso, who was touring America
-Bernays was employed to promote Americas war efforts in the press
-He promoted the Presidents message of Americas urge not to restore the effected countries but instead to being democracy to all of Europe, he was extremely successful in doing this.
-‘Make the World safe for Democracy’ was the main slogan
After his success of producing a mass craze for the president that made Bernais wonder if he could re create this kind of response in peace time.
-He used the idea of Propaganda to sell products in peace time but as the Germans had used the same concept to promote their war efforts ‘propaganda’ itself became a bad word which scared people so Bernays came up with the new title of public relations counselor.
-Worked out a way of using Freud’s theories to make money by manipulating people unconscious
-Information drives behavior
- One of his first and biggest challenges was to try and persuade women to smoke as at that time is was a great taboo for women to smoke in public
-Bernays used the psychoanalyst A.A. Grills to find out what cigarettes meant to women. From this Bernays was told that cigarettes were a symbol of the penis - makes women more powerful if they smoke as if they were themselves as powerful as men.
-The response that Bernays produced worked fantastically well, he used the slogan ‘Torches of Freedom’ to create the message that if a woman smokes then they will become more powerful and independent
-He realised that he can produce these mass reactions if he linked peoples desires and feelings to mass produced products
-Irrelevant objects could become powerful, emotional symbols of how you wanted to be seen by others
-Mass production had flourished in war time but there was a fear come peace time that there would be a huge amount of over production of products
-Advertising before Bernays was purely to show people a products practical virtues, nothing more.
-Paul Maser - leading wall street banker at the time said that change was needed in America and that in advertising ‘mans desires should over shadow his needs’
-Bernays was the man who put this concept into action
-This then started to shape America
-Fashion magazines started linking clothing products and trends to movie stars to make it seem more luxurious and desirable.
-Car advertisements were made to encourage male sexuality
-The psychology of dress, promoting fashion and dress as a form of individuality.
-This produced a boost in consumerism in America which in turn produced a stock market boom, Bernays saw this as an opportunity to persuade regular people to buy shares and should borrow money from banks which he also represented.
-Never thought about people individually, only thought of people in groups of thousands.
-Understanding the mind of the crowed
-Linked politics with public relations to promote disliked president of the time.
-We believe our problems can be solved by purchases
