Crystallizing Public Opinion

Bernays made it into a quasi-scientific matter, but the beneficiaries were the agricultural producers, his clients, who reaped the profits when his ideas got across to the general public

Public relations, effectively used, helps validate an underlying principle of our society—competition in the market place of ideas and things

Among Bernays’ many clients were the Waldorf-Astoria, Procter & Gamble, General Electric, General Motors, Time, Inc., CBS, and NBC.

Social historians have credited

helping anti-smoking campaigns.

Bernays turned his talents to

when he became aware that many women smokers were avoiding the brand’s green packaging because they felt it didn’t go well with their favorite clothes, he staged green-based fashion events and well-publicized green balls, to popularize green as a fashion color.

working for Lucky Strike cigarettes in the 1920s, he didn’t just push his brand, but devised events and publicity to popularize smoking itself, especially smoking among elegant young women who,

pound consumers with the virtues of an individual product—that was the realm of advertising. Instead he worked to change attitudes in a way that would lead to the desired result

use of endorsements from opinion leaders, celebrities, and experts, and surveys which he publicized to buttress whatever case he was trying to make.