How Consumer Propaganda Changed America

Summary

This script narrates the influential journey of Edward Bernays, the father of public relations and modern consumerism. From orchestrating the 'Torches of Freedom' campaign for Lucky Strike cigarettes in 1929 to shaping American consumer behavior, Bernays manipulated societal norms and desires, leading to the rise of consumer culture and planned obsolescence. Despite contributing to the 1929 stock market crash, his influence persisted post-Great Depression, showcasing his enduring impact on American society.

Takeaways

• 🚬 In 1929, women smoking was considered scandalous, and the 'Torches of Freedom' event during the Easter Sunday parade in New York City was a staged spectacle to normalize it, orchestrated by Edward Bernays for his client, Lucky Strike.
• 🎭 Edward Bernays, an Austrian immigrant and nephew of Sigmund Freud, used his understanding of psychoanalysis to pioneer modern consumerism and public relations, manipulating public opinion and desires.
• 🏆 Bernays was instrumental in promoting the U.S. war effort during WWI, using propaganda techniques that later translated into his work in advertising and public relations.
• 🚗 Bernays helped the automobile industry combat overproduction by marketing cars as symbols of status and sexuality, and by introducing the concept of planned obsolescence through annual model changes.
• 🥓 He also influenced food consumption by creating a demand for bacon through a campaign that involved getting physicians to endorse a larger breakfast, which included bacon as a healthier option.
• 👗 Bernays played a significant role in shaping fashion consumerism, using celebrity endorsements and fashion shows to create a desire for certain clothing lines and styles.
• 🟢 Bernays changed fashion trends by making the color green fashionable to help Lucky Strike sell more of their cigarettes, demonstrating his ability to influence social norms for commercial gain.
• 📈 His propaganda techniques were used to popularize retail investing, contributing to the stock market boom of the 1920s and the subsequent crash that led to the Great Depression.
• 🌐 Bernays' influence extended beyond individual products, helping to shape broader economic concepts like consumerism and market expansion theory, which have had lasting impacts on the American economy.
• 📉 Despite the economic collapse, Bernays' influence persisted, and he continued to shape public opinion and consumer behavior even after the Great Depression.

Q & A

What was the taboo associated with women smoking in the 1920s?

In the 1920s, women smoking was considered taboo as cigarettes were seen as accessories of corrupted women, prostitutes, and social outcasts.

How did Edward Bernays orchestrate the 'Torches of Freedom' event during the Easter Sunday parade in 1929?

Edward Bernays orchestrated the 'Torches of Freedom' event by having a group of fashionable debutants light up cigarettes in public, branding them as symbols of freedom, which was reported widely in newspapers as a protest, but was actually a propaganda stunt for his client, Lucky Strike.

Who was Edward Bernays' famous uncle and what was his contribution to the field of psychology?

Edward Bernays' uncle was Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis, whose work on the human subconscious, irrationality, and human desires greatly influenced Bernays' approach to public relations and marketing.

What was the role of Edward Bernays during World War I?

During World War I, Edward Bernays was part of the Committee on Public Information, tasked with selling America's war motives to the public at home and abroad, using propaganda techniques.

How did the concept of 'public relations' come into existence according to the script?

The concept of 'public relations' came into existence as a rebranding of propaganda by Edward Bernays, who sought a new term to describe his work in influencing public opinion after the negative connotations associated with propaganda in America.

What was the economic fear that corporate America faced after World War I?

The economic fear that corporate America faced after World War I was overproduction, where supply exceeded demand for goods and services, potentially leading to falling prices, dissolving profit margins, and economic downturns.

How did Edward Bernays contribute to the automobile industry's marketing strategies?

Edward Bernays contributed to the automobile industry by advising car companies to market cars not just as utility but as symbols of male sexuality and status, and by promoting annual design changes to create demand for new models, which led to the concept of planned obsolescence.

What was the 'green ball' event organized by Edward Bernays, and what was its purpose?

The 'green ball' was a star-studded event organized by Edward Bernays to make the color green fashionable, which was a strategy to increase the appeal of Lucky Strike's green and red packaging among women, thus expanding the market for the brand.

How did Edward Bernays influence the American breakfast culture?

Edward Bernays influenced the American breakfast culture by orchestrating a campaign that promoted a heavier breakfast as healthier, backed by 'independent' studies circulated in the press, which he had influenced. This led to the popularization of protein-rich breakfast items like eggs and bacon.

What was the impact of consumerism on the American economy during the 1920s as described in the script?

During the 1920s, consumerism was portrayed as the engine of economic growth, leading to rapid industrialization and an era of prosperity. However, it also contributed to overconfidence and excess borrowing, which eventually culminated in the Great Depression following the stock market crash of 1929.

Outlines

00:00

🚬 The Scandalous 1929 Easter Sunday Cigarette Protest

In 1929, during the Easter Sunday parade in New York City, a group of fashionable debutants defied social norms by publicly smoking cigarettes, which were considered taboo for women at the time. This act was portrayed as a protest and branded as 'torches of freedom' in the media. However, it was later revealed to be a staged event orchestrated by Edward Bernays, a pioneer in public relations, to promote his client, Lucky Strike, a major tobacco company. Bernays used this event to manipulate public perception and normalize women's smoking, showcasing his ability to shape consumer behavior and attitudes.

05:01

🎩 Edward Bernays: The Father of Public Relations

Edward Bernays, an Austro-Hungarian immigrant, began his career in public relations by promoting opera singer Enrico Caruso. His work in propaganda during World War I for the U.S. government led to a realization of the power of manipulating public opinion. After the war, Bernays returned to New York City and established the first public relations consultancy. He coined the term 'public relations' to rebrand propaganda and began to apply his skills to consumer goods, aiming to transform society from one based on needs to one driven by desires.

10:02

🚗 Revolutionizing the Automobile Industry with Emotional Selling

Bernays applied his understanding of human psychology to the automobile industry, advising car companies to market their products not just as utility items but as symbols of status and sexuality. He introduced the concept of planned obsolescence by encouraging annual model changes to create a demand for new cars. This strategy was successful in selling more cars, even when the market was saturated. Bernays' approach to marketing was revolutionary, focusing on creating emotional connections with consumers rather than just listing product features.

15:02

🍳 Manipulating the American Breakfast with Propaganda

Bernays was hired by the Beechnut Packing Company to increase bacon sales. He crafted a campaign that promoted a larger breakfast as healthier by leveraging the authority of physicians. By polling doctors and publishing their agreement that a heavier breakfast was better, Bernays influenced public opinion and饮食习惯. He also strategically placed articles promoting eggs and bacon as ideal breakfast foods, successfully altering the American breakfast culture to include these products.

20:04

💚 The Green Ball: Fashion, Propaganda, and Market Expansion

When Lucky Strike faced a decline in sales due to their packaging clashing with fashion trends, Bernays organized the 'Green Ball,' a high-society event that popularized the color green. By creating a demand for green fashion and artifacts, he managed to make Lucky Strike's green and red packaging desirable. This event exemplified Bernays' ability to expand markets by influencing social norms and consumer tastes, demonstrating the power of propaganda in shaping economic trends and consumer behavior.

📈 The Stock Market Boom and the Onset of the Great Depression

Bernays used his skills in propaganda to popularize retail investing, convincing Americans that owning stocks was a patriotic duty and a path to the American dream. This led to a surge in stock market investments and contributed to the bull market of the 1920s. However, the overconfidence in the economy and consumerism led to the Great Depression when the stock market crashed in 1929. Despite the economic collapse, Bernays' influence persisted, and he continued to shape public relations and consumer culture even after the depression.

Keywords

💡Edward Bernays

Edward Bernays, an Austro-Hungarian immigrant and nephew of Sigmund Freud, is widely considered the father of public relations. In the script, he is portrayed as the mastermind behind several propaganda campaigns, using psychoanalytic principles to manipulate public perception and consumer behavior. His influence on modern consumerism and advertising is central to the video's message, highlighting his role in shaping societal norms around products like cigarettes and cars.

💡Public Relations

Public relations, a term coined by Bernays, is described as a more acceptable form of propaganda that aims to manage and influence public opinion. The video explains how Bernays used this concept to shape mass consumer behavior, helping corporations sell products by appealing to emotions rather than rational needs. PR became a powerful tool in American consumerism, especially in industries like tobacco, automobiles, and fashion.

💡Torches of Freedom

Torches of Freedom refers to a staged event orchestrated by Bernays where women smoked cigarettes publicly during an Easter parade in 1929, positioning it as a symbol of female empowerment. This was actually a covert marketing campaign for Lucky Strike cigarettes, illustrating Bernays' ability to turn products into social statements, blending consumerism with cultural shifts.

💡Consumerism

Consumerism is the societal focus on acquiring goods and services in ever-increasing amounts, driven by the idea that personal and societal well-being is linked to consumption. The video portrays Bernays as a key figure in shifting America from a needs-based economy to a wants-based culture, using emotional appeals and psychological manipulation to create demand for products people didn’t necessarily need.

💡Planned Obsolescence

Planned obsolescence is a business strategy where products are designed to become outdated or obsolete, encouraging consumers to purchase new versions frequently. Bernays helped popularize this concept by advising car companies to release new designs annually, thereby promoting continuous consumption, as seen with General Motors surpassing Ford in car sales.

💡Conspicuous Consumption

Conspicuous consumption, coined by economist Thorstein Veblen, refers to the practice of purchasing goods to display wealth and status rather than for their utility. The video connects this concept to Bernays' tactics, showing how he used celebrity endorsements and emotional appeals to encourage people to buy products as status symbols, like cars and fashion items.

💡Market Expansion Theory

Market Expansion Theory, as demonstrated by Bernays, involves expanding the market for a product by redefining social norms or creating new trends. In the video, Bernays used this theory when he made the color green fashionable to boost sales of Lucky Strike cigarettes, showing how he manipulated cultural trends to increase demand.

💡Overproduction

Overproduction is an economic situation where supply exceeds demand, leading to unsold goods and potential economic downturns. The script explains how American corporations in the 1920s feared overproduction and how Bernays helped address this issue by creating demand through psychological manipulation, thus fueling consumerism.

💡Sigmund Freud

Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis and Bernays' uncle, heavily influenced Bernays' work. Freud’s theories on the subconscious and human irrationality became the foundation for Bernays’ public relations strategies, allowing him to tap into deeper emotional and psychological triggers to sell products and manipulate public opinion.

💡Propaganda

Propaganda, originally a term with negative connotations, was rebranded by Bernays as public relations. The script highlights how Bernays used propaganda techniques during World War I to sell the U.S. war effort and later applied these same techniques in peacetime to sell consumer goods, shaping modern advertising and media strategies.

Highlights

In 1929, women smoking was a taboo, seen as a sign of corrupted women and social outcasts.

A group of debutants publicly smoked cigarettes during the Easter Sunday parade in New York City, branding them as 'torches of freedom'.

The 'torches of freedom' event was a propaganda orchestrated by Edward Bernays for his client, Lucky Strike.

Edward Bernays, an Austrian immigrant, was a pioneer in the field of public relations and a master manipulator of public opinion.

Bernays used his uncle Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic theories to understand and influence human behavior.

During WWI, Bernays worked with the U.S. government on war propaganda, influencing public opinion in favor of the war effort.

Post-war, Bernays returned to New York and established the first public relations consultancy, applying his propaganda skills to business.

Bernays helped to shift American culture from needs-based to wants-based, promoting consumerism as a means of economic growth.

He introduced the concept of planned obsolescence in the automobile industry, encouraging annual model changes to boost sales.

Bernays was the first to use product placement in film and television, and to employ psychologists to endorse products.

He influenced American breakfast habits by promoting a heavier breakfast as healthier, indirectly promoting his client's bacon products.

Bernays used celebrity endorsements and fashion shows to transform department stores into venues for consumerism.

He directly influenced fashion trends, such as making the color green fashionable to match Lucky Strike's packaging.

Bernays' propaganda techniques were used to popularize retail investing, contributing to the stock market boom of the 1920s.

The Great Depression of 1929 marked the end of Bernays' influence on consumerism, as the economy collapsed and unemployment soared.

Despite the Great Depression, Bernays continued to wield significant influence and power in public relations after the economic downturn.

Transcripts

picture this the year is 1929 it's a

crisp Easter Sunday and we find

ourselves in the heart of the annual

Easter Sunday parade in New York City

the Hot Topic in the crowd isn't the

parade itself or the Glorious Spring

weather oh no it's something far more

scandalous the notion that women smoke

cigarettes that sounds pretty absurd

doesn't it but in the 1920s women

smoking was quite the taboo as

cigarettes were seen as accessories of

corrupted women prostitutes and social

outcasts this taboo was thought to be so

offensive at the time that several U.S

states even tried to Outlaw women's

smoking but then a plot twist right out

of a Hollywood movie unfolded mid parade

a group of fashionable debutants emerges

from the crowd struts into the parade

and what do they do they light up

cigarettes right there in front of God

and everybody else and with a defiant

smirk they branded these cigarettes as

torches of freedom

but here's the punchline

there was no real protest and there was

no heartfelt Rebellion I mean to

everyone watching there there certainly

was and the newspapers had this all over

the front page the very next day but

what nobody except a handful of people

knew was this was a theatrical spectacle

orchestrated by one man to serve his

clients demands and that client was none

other than big tobacco specifically

Lucky Strike this wasn't a protest at

all

it was propaganda and who was the master

of deception that orchestrated it well

his name

was Edward Bernays the man who as you

will learn today is responsible for a

modern day consumerism a man who is very

likely the most influential person

you've never heard of this is the story

of how a young immigrant working in

advertising went on to manipulate

millions of people into spending money

on things they didn't want and in doing

so inventing the field of public

relations and shaping the world around

you in ways you can't even imagine

Our Story begins in Toledo Ohio the year

is 1917. the lights are dim as the

Velvet curtain of the grand opera house

opens a spellbinding voice Echoes across

the hall and it belongs to Enrico Caruso

an Italian opera star being guided to

International Fame by his cunning agent

this agent is an austro-hungarian

immigrant named Edward Bernays a man

whose lineage would Peak the Curiosity

of anyone interested in human psychology

and that's because bernay's uncle was

none other than Sigmund Freud the father

of psychoanalysis and now Bernays was

making a star out of Enrico Caruso by

generating interest in his mysteriously

beautiful voice by publicly having the

singer go to comedic lengths just to

protect it but on this night April 2nd

1917 it was his life that was about to

take turn that no one saw coming a

world-defining announcement was being

made at the exact same time

300 miles away in Washington DC as

President Woodrow Wilson was declaring

the U.S was about to join World War one

and fight against Austria and Germany

War propaganda was about to become the

Talk of the Town and Bernays with his

unique set of skills found himself like

several other propagandists at the time

summoned by the U.S government Bernays

joined the Committee of Public

Information tasked with selling

America's War motives to the public at

home and abroad President Woodrow Wilson

wanted to make clear that his agenda was

not to establish the old European

Empires but rather ecosport democracy to

Europe throughout the War President

Wilson found bernay's execution and

ideas so impressive that the president

invited the then 26 year old Bernays to

join him at the Paris peace conference

after the war the reception Wilson

received in Paris was shocking to even

Bernays swarms of people rushed the

streets to get a glimpse of their hero

the great Liberator President Woodrow

Wilson as a young bernay's watchdon

stunned by the sheer impact of his work

he began to wonder if these techniques

could work a magic during times of War

could they perhaps be harnessed in times

of peace

there was just one little detail that

was killing our anti-heroes Daydream the

word propaganda it was tainted in

America it carried a negative undertone

and was associated with German war

efforts but our clever Bernays wasn't

gonna let semantics ruin his Grand plans

all he needed was a new term and thus

public relations was born

after the war Edward bernay's returned

to New York City the war had changed

Bernays it had made him more confident

in his abilities but it had also

reinforced the impression in his mind

that people were dopes and I'm not

paraphrasing Bernay is often referred to

people as stupid dopes sheep so with a

newfound sense of conviction a devolved

view of human intellect and a shiny new

phrase to describe what he did he set up

the first ever public relations

consultancy and opened up his puppet

Mastermind for business he wrote his

uncle Freud gifting him a rare box of

Havana cigars Freud wrote back returning

the favor with a copy of his new book

psychoanalysis Bernays found the work

captivating and felt that Freud's

analysis of the human subconscious human

irrationality and humans need to desire

was the key to populating the newly

established big city crowds that were

forming around a new era of American

History during this time the American

corporate landscape was undergoing quite

the evolution of its own the conclusion

of the war marked the start of an era of

rapid industrialization in America with

machines increasingly doing the heavy

lifting companies were now churning out

Goods faster than ever before while this

brought unprecedented efficiencies it

also created a fear amongst the leaders

of corporate America a fear of

overproduction

overproduction is an economic term that

refers to a situation where Supply

exceeds the demand for goods and

services this can often lead to a fall

in prices dissolving profit margins and

producers may be left with unsold stock

which in dire situations can snowball

into potentially causing economic

downturns Corporate America was

petrified of this possibility and an

unsolvable riddle presented itself

how could they keep their factories

buzzing their workers busy and the

profits soaring if Americans only bought

what they needed and so the masters of

American industry faced an urgent need

to transform a society from a

needs-based culture to a wants based

culture in the words of investment

banker Paul mazzar of Lehman Brothers we

must shift America we must make

Americans more conscious of style people

must be trained to desire to want new

things even before the old have been

entirely consumed as the 20th century

unfolded a new Social and economic order

began to take shape consumerism

consumerism is the concept that promotes

the virtue of acquiring goods and

services in Forever increasing volumes

it promotes the notion that an

individual's well-being happiness and

even social standing can be

intrinsically linked to their capacity

to consume consumerism Advocates that

consumer spending is the engine of

economic growth and while this seemingly

New Concept was about to take center

stage in America early analysis of this

concept can be traced all the way back

to 1899 when the political Economist

absolute critic of capitalism and

mustache of the century winner Thurston

felblin theorized that conspicuous

consumption became a means of signaling

one's socioeconomic status and that

people owned and used products not just

for their utility but as emblems of

Prestige and affluence in veblen's book

the theory of the Leisure Class veblin

also establishes the economic phenomenon

we know as veblen Goods so America is

going through this transformation and as

you already know by now Edward Bernays

is at the helm of it but the reason it

ended up being Bernays and not some

other propagandist is because of the

insights Bernays Drew on from his

uncle's work Bernays understood

something that set him apart from all

the other marketers out there Bernays

understood that selling products wasn't

about selling products it was about

selling emotions at the time marketers

thought that the most compelling way to

communicate the virtues of a product

were to list out all the things it could

do Bernays laughed at this and claimed

that the utility of a product hardly

motivated purchases at all bernay's

approach is perhaps best articulated by

a former employee of his Peter Strauss

who said Eddie Bernays saw that the way

to sell a product was not to sell it to

your intellect you should buy this

automobile but rather

you would feel better if you had this

automobile he understood the idea that

people were not just making purchases

with their money but instead engaging

with the product with a piece of

themselves

Bernays was the Maestro of manufacturing

desire constructing emotional

connections to purchases but enough with

the philosophy in the context what did

Bernays actually do

at this time in American history one of

the largest industries that feared

overproduction was the newly thriving

automobile industry the mass production

of cars had only just kicked off in the

1890s a couple of decades before the war

so by 1924 even though cars were more

sophisticated than ever they had reached

a saturation point in the market

everyone who needed a car pretty much

had one so how were car companies

supposed to sell more cars to a

population that just didn't need them

the notion of one household owning more

than one car was just ridiculous and

only something that the mega Rich would

even entertain Bernays was the first

person to tell car companies to Market

cars and not as utility but as a symbol

of male sexuality giving rise to long

body luxury sedans and sports cars

then to take things a step further

Bernays advised his clients General

Motors to create further demand for

these new symbols of male Vitality by

going to Market each year with new

annual year designs this was the origin

of a practice later coined planned

obsoles at the time Ford was easily the

largest car manufacturer in the United

States and had produced over half of all

of the cars on the road Henry Ford

despised this practice of planned

obsoles and he felt that constantly

going to Market with new designs led to

terrible engineering and was downright

sleazy his dream for the future of

automobile markets was one with much

more Integrity but consumers were

hypnotized as their subconscious heart

strings were being yanked by bernese's

Freudian tricks the virtues of

engineering proved no match for bernay's

propaganda games as GM went on to out

Pace forward sales over the next decade

claiming the spa it still holds today as

America's largest automobile

manufacturer and what is perhaps even

more significant is that the annual

design upgrades are now synonymous with

the automobile industry but bernay's

influence didn't just stop at cigarettes

and cars He Touched every facet of

social life he was the first to come up

with the concept of product placement in

film and television he was the first to

employ psychologists to write reports

that specific products were good for

people and then have the reports

released and circulated in independent

studies the most famous example of this

is showcased in his work with the

Beechnut Packing Company who hired

Bernays to help sell more bacon bernay's

approached this challenge not by asking

himself

how do Americans decide what to eat but

rather who tells Americans what to eat

this gave Bernays the idea to approach

his personal physician and ask him

whether or not he would agree with the

following argumentation because the body

digests much of its calorie intake while

sleeping and because calories are the

fuel people need to go about their days

people wake up from their sleep in a

serious calorie deficit and thus having

a larger breakfast as opposed to a

lighter breakfast was more optimal way

for people to start their days now today

we know that that line of reasoning just

isn't true and to a pretty meaningful

extent the subconscious of Americans

also knew this because no one was eating

a large breakfast Americans actually ate

a very small breakfast typically a piece

of carbs paired with either juice or

coffee but bernay's position was willing

to agree with this line of reasoning

prompting Bernays to request him to

write 5 000 other physicians in the

country polling them to ask if they too

agreed with the sentiment of the 5 000

Physicians they wrote four thousand and

five hundred of them wrote back saying

that they agreed Bernays then had these

findings published and circulated in the

Press with headlines informing Americans

that thousands of Physicians all agreed

that a heavier breakfast was healthier

than a lighter one and that breakfast

was the most important meal of the day

at the exact same time Bernays planted

other stories in the press that not so

innocently promoted the virtues of eggs

and bacon as the breakfast's finest

protein-rich Staples no one batted an

eye as the American breakfast a

brainchild of bernay's propaganda was

popularized seemingly overnight Bernays

was also instrumental in sculpting

modern fashion consumerism throughout

the 1920s all the major Banks motivated

by their agenda to evolve all of the

ideology of the American Shopper heavily

invested in a brand new invention the

department store this was going to be

the porcelain jungle that homed all the

overproduced shiny things Americans

didn't need but a new arena for

consumption required a new breed of

customers that America hadn't seen

before so the banks hired bernades

Bernays then hosted a series of fashion

shows in the stores that boasted an

array of celebrities who also happen to

be his clients these celebrities would

give speeches ridden by Bernays that

prompted the idea that clothes were more

than just Fabric and thread each outfit

was a ticket to express one's unique

magical special characteristics without

these clothes how could one convey their

inner charm and personality to the world

how could anyone be viewed as special if

they're closed the first thing that

people saw when they looked at you were

just plain and ordinary now while I

certainly don't mean to imply Bernay

should be credited with inventing

branding it is clear that the use of

celebrity endorsements to communicate

the uniqueness and desirability of

certain clothing lines as opposed to

others served as a catalyst for the role

modern apparel Brands hold today but

Bernays didn't just popularize fashion

he also directly influenced it and not

even for the clients you might expect

one day Lucky Strike the same cigarette

brand that prompted Bernays to curate

the Torches of Freedom propaganda came

to him with a rather perplexing problem

through their focus groups Lucky Strike

had determined that women who Bernays

had now successfully transformed into a

new class of smoking Citizens We're

choosing other cigarette boxes over

theirs because Lucky Strikes green and

red boxes were clashing with the fashion

Norms of the time bernhaze insisted that

the solution here was obvious change the

package packaging of the boxes to

something more fashionable the head of

Lucky Strike insisted that there was no

way that was going to happen as they had

already invested millions of dollars

into their branding and marketing

efforts they instead requested that

Bernays make green a more fashionable

color and so that is exactly what he did

Bernays organized the green ball a

star-studded party generously covered by

members of the press which featured

beautiful green artifacts and

decorations placed strategically around

the venue he even had recognized

intellectuals running around the room

giving speeches about the historical

virtues and poetic interpretations of

the color green suddenly giving a color

that no one wanted to wear quite the

cachet

this was so successful that before the

ball had even taken place newspapers

were feeding into the suspense

publicizing how green was becoming All

the Rage amongst members of High Society

New York Edward bernay's work with the

green ball is an unorthodox and striking

embodiment of an economic concept

referred to as Market expansion Theory

Bernays expanded the market for Lucky

Strike by redefining social norms and

fashion trends thereby increasing demand

for the green and red packaging the

economic implications of the Market

expansion Theory lie in its potential

for fostering new economic opportunities

industry growth and increased consumer

consumption all of which can drive

significant economic expansion and

greater profiteering sobernay's clever

plans were certainly doing their tricks

Americans were transformed into

consumers and Corporate America couldn't

be happier now their plans were simple

add fuel to the fire and expand into an

even more Innovative more profitable

more American future the corporations

began borrowing the banks began

borrowing and everyone's attitude was

full steam ahead consumerism could do no

wrong as it was powering one of the

grandest stock market rallies of all

time and in case you needed one more

bernay's jaw dropper this bull market

was also partially credited to bernays's

doing as he had used propaganda

techniques to popularize retail

investing up until this point in history

the average American took little to no

interest in stocks why would they the

Common Man hardly knew a thing about

them and yet Bernays was able to sway

the masses into believing that as

Americans investing was a

self-fulfilling exercise of nationalism

and that owning a piece of the American

economy was almost like a Birthright a

no-brainer to any American who desired

to live the American dream

this compelling message sent swarms of

Americans rushing to buy stocks

predominantly from banks that of course

Bernay is represented and was working

for the entire time

but as history will often remind us

you can only play God for so long and

Bernays was about to run into a daunting

form of irrationality that even he could

not comprehend

[Music]

it was late October 1929. Bernays was

organizing a massive event in the heart

of New York City which marked the 50th

anniversary of the invention of the

light bulb the entire spectacle was

paying homage to the Innovations of

American capitalism in attendance were

tens of thousands of Americans as well

as an endless number of notable figures

that bernay's had in his pocket famous

celebrities the leaders of corporate

America business Titans like John D

Rockefeller and even the U.S president

president Herbert Hoover

everyone there at bernay's request

everyone there to glorify the gifts that

consumerism had yielded but as they were

gathered the chilling news was already

beginning to spread and so with it

panic the U.S stock market was

completely collapsing for years leading

up to this the overconfidence that came

with consumerism and industrialization

had led to a new wave of thinking a mass

delusion had misled the bankers the

businessmen and it seemed even the

politicians as excess borrowing had been

carried out under the notion that

America was entering a new wave one in

which the Glorious American economy was

immune to economic downturns recessions

and market crashes this notion was

absolutely ridiculous and what pursued

was the largest market crash in history

the Great Depression had just begun

washing away everything Bernays had

built as a quarter of America's

Workforce went on to lose their job the

spending spree came to a drastic halt no

longer were Americans compelled to

purchase things that they didn't need

and it seemed like bernay's time in the

spotlight was finally over

but actually it wasn't it would turn out

that Edward bernay's influence while

hindered wasn't down for the count when

the Great Depression ended he managed to

gain even more influence and power than

ever before but if you want to hear the

rest of that incredible story we'll be

making a part two on the ultimate Puppet

Master Edward Bernays once this video

gets 15 000 likes

picture this

we're in the deep south of America the

year is 1864. Confederate dollars are

withering away into worthless

nothingness and the desperation of the

southern states is starting to show on

the faces of Confederate soldiers a

looming threat grows in the north they

know it's coming the north has a leader

who is about to make history a leader

with a vision a cunning plan and an

economic arsenal of Ingenuity that is

about to change history forever as the

survival of a Nation hangs in the

balance