The Century of the Self.

The first part of The Century of the Self talks about Edward Bernays (1891-1995). He was an early pioneer in the field of public relations and propaganda. He was a one time press agent for "The Worlds Greatest Tenor", Enrico Caruso, and accompanied President Woodrow Wilson to the Paris Peace Conference at the end of World War 1 early in his career. When Bernays died at the age of 103, he became known as the "father of the public relations". The interesting thing about this first segment of "The Century of the Self" is how Bernays said that the need for certain products is all part of an unconscious desire within the human mind. Bernays was the American nephew of Sigmund Freud, a legendary psychologist who thought that actions were sexually motivated. Edward Bernays used his uncle's life work of "psychoanalysis" to help explain why people buy certain products. When advertisers sell products like Coca Cola or cigarettes, they want to make their product look appealing to the public. Within the minds of human beings, there is some part of them that wants this product that will make look appealing. Bernays wanted to make smoking look appealing to women, which proved to be his most dramatic experiment. Before his time, smoking was usually a man's thing and women smoking anything was considered to be strictly taboo. Smoking was a sign of masculine power. A woman smoking would show her independence and is up to challenging the power of the man. Bernays had setup an event where the women would smoke their cigarettes in public on que. It caught alot of attention from newspaper reporters and smoking became a sensation for women. There was also a great increase in the sales of cigarettes because women started to smoke in public. Movie stars like Lucille Ball and Lana Turner often smoked on screen to look glamourous to their fans. Bernays knew how to reach that part of the mind that tells people that this product is appealing. It was interesting to see how he made smoking acceptable for women. Bernays' life work was just as incredible as his uncle's. Without Bernays, the term "public relations" may never have been used.