Monday 15 October 2012

Seminar One - Psychoanalysis.

Notes from documentary
  • Edward Bernays - freuds nephew
  • First person to control the masses using frauds theories
  • Dominates our world today
  • There is a psychotherapy ball in vienna, hundred years previous these people hated freud ideas, threat to their control
  • Believed you couldn't/shouldn't show your feelings - to maids/public etc
  • With frauds ideas society was questioned, threatening their empire
  • 1914 austrian hungarian led europe into war
  • Governments had unleashed primitive forces in human beings and they didn't know how to control it
  • During this time bernays was living in america
  • Bernays was employed to promote the usa's war effort, he was successful at this for home and abroad
  • Went to the peace conference in paris with the president
  • Portrayed wilson a hero for the masses
  • Bernays wondered if he could do they same during peace time, propaganda for war and peace
  • Set up a public relations council in new york, first time the phrase was used
  • Turned to the writings of freud, sent him an introduction of psychoanalysis
  • He was inspired and set about trying to apply it in another way
  • Changed from factual info and persuasion
  • Early experiment was trying to get women to smoke, break the taboo
  • Arranged a psychoanalysis to find out what cigarettes meant to women
  • Cigarettes linked to the penis and male power, bernays had to find a way to portray them as a challenge against male power
  • Female suffragettes lighting cigarettes during protest 'torches of freedom' memory, rational phrase
  • Next day it was a news subject around the world, made cigarettes socially acceptable for women
  • Made him realise you could make people link emotions with objects. 
  • Link products with emotions - irrational
  • Fascinated americas corporations, mass production had flourished, were scared of this stopping when people had enough products
  • Advertisements used to show products practical virtues
  • Shift from needs to desires, shape the mentality of america
  • Early 20's department stores were created, bernays was in charge or creating the new type of customer
  • Linked his represented firms with celebrities and sexuality
  • Used models in fashion shows to convince people to express their personality through clothing
  • Change in democracy - citizen to consumer
  • Millions followed bernays advice
  • Was not a one to one person, thought of people in groups of thousands, understanded the mind of the crows
  • Was involved in stock market boom 
  • Linked the president with celebrities to boost his popularity
  • Arranged for his uncles works to be published in america to save him from bankruptcy
  • He started to publicise his books, made him acceptable and then capitalise on the results
  • Had an extraordinary effect on journalists in 1920's
  • The basic reasoning of the mass mind his unconscious instinctual drive, bernays was fascinated with this idea
  • Engineering of consent - people had to be guided in what they wanted, tap into deepest desires and fears
  • Consumerism had become the central part of american culture
  • Made the economy stable, people were happy, feel good medication
Examples

Marlboro Campaign
  • because of the boom with women smoking men felt it was less masculine
  • the Marlboro man was created - cowboy, instinctual macho
Silk Cut Campaign
  • advertising code of practice, no longer allowed to be associated with:- glamour, sport, business success, masculinity/femininity, should not seek to actively persuade people to start smoking
  • work with instinctual/hidden desires
  • old add - sophistication, life style aspirations, price
  • name - luxurious, smooth, feminine connotations (silk) removing half of target market
  • new add - feudian associations, link brand to primal desires (life and death instinct/eros thantos), reproduction/self destruction, killing e.g rock and roll lifestyle.
  • bagpipes - blow into, cigarette/phallic

  • conscious level - silk with a cut in it
  • unconscious level - vagina, knives cutting silk in a violent/sexual way, silky/luxurious, bed sheets

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