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A Well Deserved Thank You to the Father of Public Relations

By Molly Brown

In the spirit of Father’s day, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Edward Bernays. I couldn’t do what I do without you, sir.

Bernays (saucy PR guy!)

Bernays (saucy PR guy!)

You’re probably wondering “Who is this guy?” To answer your question, he is neither my dad nor my grandpa but he is well-known as “the father of public relations.”

Bernays was born in 1891 and lived a very active life until his death at age 103 in 1995. He was born in Austria but grew up in the Big Apple, New York City. Believe it or not (but it’s true), Edward Bernays was the nephew of Sigmund Freud. If that name seems familiar that’s because Freud is known as the father of psychoanalysis. Being Freud’s nephew, a majority of Bernays ideals came from a psychological influence.

Now you’re probably thinking, “What good did he do?” But, they wouldn’t just call him the father of PR for no reason. Edward Bernays laid the foundation for our ever-changing industry. (He certainly had his detractors, as well.)

In his 103 years, he did more than you can imagine. Have you ever wondered how bacon and eggs became known as the “American breakfast”? You can thank Bernays for that one. As an avid breakfast lover, I’m grateful for this project the most.

In the 1920s, the Beech-Nut Packing Company asked Bernays for help increasing customer demand for bacon. As part of his campaign, he asked the agency’s doctor if a bigger breakfast was a good idea for the public. Thousands of doctors encouraged this idea of a heavier breakfast, thus creating the popularity of “bacon and Eegs” as the morning meal.

Not only did he get some pretty cool campaigns under way in his career, he also came up with some ideas about that helped shape public relations into what it is today. Edward Bernays once said, “Public relations, effectively used, helps validate an underlying principle of our society — competition in the market place of ideas and things.”

Although technology is progressing every day and our field is constantly adapting to those changes, we will always thank Edward Bernays, the father of public relations.

Sources:

https://www.nytimes.com/books/98/08/16/specials/bernays-obit.html

http://www.americantable.org/2012/07/how-bacon-and-eggs-became-the-american-breakfast/

http://www.freudfile.org

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