Date: 4/ 3/ 2023

Father of Public
Relations
"Whatever of social importance is done today,
whether in politics, finance, manufacture,
agriculture, charity, education, or other fields,
must be done with the help of propaganda."
EDWARD LOUIS BERNAYS
PUBLIC RELATIONS Edward Bernays was an American business consultant who
is widely regarded as having created the modern profession
of public relations with his groundbreaking campaigns of the
1920s. Bernays attained clients among major corporations
and became known for boosting their business by causing
changes in public opinion.
Born Edward Bernays
November 22, 1891 Advertising was already commonplace by the early 20th
century. But what Bernays did with his campaigns was
Vienna, Austria-Hungary significantly different, as he didn't openly seek to promote a
particular product the way a typical ad campaign would.
Instead, when hired by a company, Bernays would set out
Died March 9, 1995 (aged 103) to change the opinions of the general public, creating
demand which would indirectly boost the fortunes of a
Cambridge, Massachusetts, particular product.
USA
Some of Bernays' public relations campaigns failed, but
some were so successful that he was able to create a
Education Cornell University, (BS) thriving business. And, making no secret of his family
relationship to Sigmund Freud—he was the nephew of the
pioneering psychoanalyst—his work had the veneer of
• Public scientific respectability.
Known for
relations (campaigns)
Bernays was often portrayed as the father of propaganda, a
• Advertising title he did not mind. He maintained that propaganda was a
laudable and necessary component of democratic
government.