Documentary: Happiness Machines

If we understand the mechanism and motives of the group mind, it is now possible to control and regiment the masses according to our will without them knowing it.

~ Edward Bernays (1891-- 1995-) nephew of Sigmund Freud and father of public relations.

The chef proposes today a documentary of BBC on psychoanalysis, mass persuasion and propaganda. By watching this documentary you will get an idea where do modern advertising methods originate from and what is the role of psychology in mass influence.

Bernays was one of the main architects of the modern techniques of mass-consumer persuasion, using every trick in the book, from celebrity endorsement and outrageous PR stunts, to eroticising the car.

His most notorious coup was when he broke the taboo on women smoking by persuading them that cigarettes were a symbol of independence and freedom. However, Bernays was convinced that this was more than just a way of selling consumer goods. To him this was a new political idea of how to control the masses and that by satisfying the inner irrational desires that his uncle had identified, people could be made happy and thus more docile.

The next part can be found here .

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Jake Lockley - Watch the Whole Series

| | 2009-03-03 22:48:25

Watch the whole series, this is just part 1 of 4. The series is really about the battle between business, government, and individuals for control over our will. It's about creating and controlling mass culture and how we are manipulated through marketing (propaganda). Excellent series, as are the others by Adam Curtis. He really changed the way I look at the world, culture, and especially the definition of freedom.