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Velvet Propaganda
I am still marvelling over this 1928 book by Edward Bernays, entitled Propaganda. Generations ago, it outlined the techniques of public influence that are still in effect today. Check out his example of the velvet mafia creating a renewed demand for its wares via the propaganda professionals:
Business offers graphic examples of the effect that may be produced upon the public by interested groups, such as textile manufacturers losing their markets. This problem arose, not long ago, when the velvet manufacturers were facing ruin because their product had long been out of fashion. Analysis showed that it was impossible to revive a velvet fashion within America. Anatomical hunt for the vital spot! Paris! Obviously! But yes and no. Paris is the home of fashion. Lyons is the home of silk. The attack had to be made at the source. It was determined to substitute purpose for chance and to utilize the regular sources for fashion distribution and to influence the public from these sources. A velvet fashion service, openly supported by the manufacturers, was organized. Its first function was to establish contact with the Lyons manufactories and the Paris couturiers to discover what they were doing, to encourage them to act on behalf of velvet, and to help in the proper exploitation of their wares. An intelligent Parisian was enlisted in the work. He visited Lanvin and Worth, Agnes and Patou, and others and induced them to use velvet in their gowns and hats. It was he who arranged for the distinguished Countess This or Duchess That to wear the hat or the gown. And as for the presentation of the idea to the public, the American buyer or the American woman of fashion was simply shown the velvet creations in the atelier of the dressmaker or the milliner. She bought the velvet because she liked it and because it was in fashion.
The editors of the American magazines and fashion reporters of the American newspapers, likewise subjected to the actual (although created) circumstance, reflected it in their news, which, in turn, subjected the buyer and the consumer here to the same influences. The result was that what was at first a trickle of velvet became a flood. A demand was slowly, but deliberately, created in Paris and America. A big department store, aiming to be a style leader, advertised velvet gowns and hats on the authority of the French couturiers, and quoted original cables received from them. The echo of the new style note was heard from hundreds of department stores throughout the country which wanted to be style leaders too. Bulletins followed despatches. The mail followed the cables. And the American woman traveler appeared before the ship news photographers in velvet gown and hat.
The created circumstances had their effect. “Fickle J fashion has veered to velvet,” was one newspaper comment. And the industry in the United States again kept thousands busy.
Bernays is interesting because he is alway careful to point out how helpful, valuable and democratic propaganda really is. Watch the first episode of the BBC’s Century of the Self for a more in-depth look into Bernays’ work. It is truly fascinating.
And don’t forget to download your free PDF of the book Propaganda here. It is absolutely fascinating stuff.
August 1st, 2006 at 5:27 pm
I just wanted to leave a quick comment to say thanks for the post about Bernays and the link to the Propaganda book. I’m actually doing some research on the subject right now, so this really comes in handy!
August 1st, 2006 at 8:39 pm
PR! A Political History of Spin by Stuart Ewen’s a great book on the history of propaganda and public relations. Bernays factors into it heavily, Ewen interviewed him late in his life and he’s very candid about his work.
August 2nd, 2006 at 9:49 am
Tim, you sure do find some goodies while fishin’ the murky depths of the interweb! Thanks for the link; it should make for some very interesting reading. I’ve long been fascinated by the interrelationship between politics, propaganda/marketing, design, & the occult/magic… this PDF may add valuable additional insights.
It never ceases to amaze me how blatantly governments & corporations go about their acts of manipulation. Even when presented with obvious falsehoods & clear evidence of manipulation, most people remain oblivious or, perhaps more accurately, entranced by the sociological prestigitation they are witness to. Perhaps it is the outrageous, flagrant nature of what they are witness to… or the fact that they are part of ‘the act’, so to speak, & thus feel compelled to play the role of the enchanted audience & just follow along & ‘play dumb’ … at their own peril, of course.
In the realm of global affairs these acts of manipulation are not for mere entertainment purposes, or rabbit tricks… our complacency makes us party to really dangerous stuff… sheep lead both to slaughter & to be slaughtered. If one believes that the old maxim ‘as above, so below’ has any merit, then there may be far more at stake than mere corporeal harm as well. This is why if we forget the lessons of history we are doomed to repeat them; perhaps until we learn them once & for all, or perhaps only until we done blowed ourselves up but good…
“If you tell a lie big enough & keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic &/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, & thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the state.” - Joseph Goebbels, Minister of Propaganda, Nazi Germany (1933-1945)
“The broad mass of the nation … will more easily fall victim to a big lie than to a small one.” - Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf (1925)
August 4th, 2006 at 3:54 pm
[…] Slap them all together and what do you get? You get a mythology (whether real or imagined) that cleverly hooks anti-government sentiment to the traditional Christian value system, and also to its more modern secular humanist offshoot. Each issue is also highly emotionally charged, layered with fascination and guilt, ensuring that none can be talked about with a cool head, nevermind all three of them joined together. It is, quite simply, a conceptual and emotional powerhouse - worthy of a master propagandist such as Edward Bernays (though I’m not suggesting he created it). […]