The Father of Spin: Edward L. Bernays and The Birth of Public Relations (Paperback)

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Key Phrases: crystallizing public opinion, public relations counsel, fruit company, New York, United Fruit, American Tobacco (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Biographer Larry Tye can't help but be entertained by his subject's professional antics. Edward L. Bernays (1892-1995), a pioneering practitioner of public relations, zestfully ballyhooed his clients, utilizing a shrewd blend of publicity stunts, careful cultivation of the press, and solicited endorsements from "experts." Yet journalist Tye is also aware of the moral ambiguities inherent in the career of a man who vigorously promoted cigarette smoking and whose work for the United Fruit Company played at least some role in the 1954 military overthrow of Guatemala's democratically elected government. This judicious book balances appreciation for Bernays' inventiveness with a sober understanding of its consequences, including the extent to which PR permeates contemporary American life. --Wendy Smith --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Dubbed the "Prince of Puff" and the "Baron of Ballyhoo," Edward L. Bernays, who died in 1995 at the age of 103, was arguably the most influential publicist of the 20th century. The nephew of Sigmund Freud, Bernays brought an astute grasp of human behavior to the nascent field of public relations, opening his own PR firm in 1919 and launching celebrated publicity campaigns for American Tobacco, Ivory Soap, United Fruit, book publishers, manufacturers of eggs and bacon and the platforms of presidents from Coolidge to Eisenhower. In this comprehensive biography, Tye, a Boston Globe reporter, attributes Bernay's success to a marketing philosophy that he terms "Big Think," which combined high-concept publicity stunts, endorsements from doctors, national surveys and other forms of publicity whose actual product endorsement was cleverly veiled. To promote Lucky Strike cigarettes among women in an age in which smoking in public was still outre, for example, he arranged for a parade of smoking debutantes to march down Fifth Avenue. To market Ivory soap, he created a hugely popular national soap-sculpting contest. A domineering and self-absorbed man who never missed a chance to promote himself ("in an era of mass communication," he often remarked, "modesty is a private virtue and a public fault"), Bernays eventually became a pariah in the industry that he helped to create. At times, Tye too blithely credits Bernays for shaping events and product success, rather than seeing his work as only one part of the welter of mass media manipulations that have long since transformed American life. But Tye succeeds in piercing the rapidly spinning mythology that perpetually surrounded the man who, he convincingly argues, pioneered the modern science of spin.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Holt Paperbacks (September 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805067892
• ISBN-13: 978-0805067897
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #476,831 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating Biography of an Amoral Man, August 31, 2002

By A Customer

Bernays is generally acknowledged as the Father of PR. But, is he also the Father of Spin?

Tye writes a fascinating biography of this key communications individual, filled with the key episodes that earned Bernays his moniker. From getting women to smoke to getting people to eat bacon, Bernays always seemed to figure out a way.

But, Tye focuses heavily on these episodes and gives short shift to the implictions and consequences of Bernays's actions beyond fattening the bottom line. While it is true Bernays could not have fully appreciated all the consequences, his relentless drive to serve his clients reveals a man who forgot that public relations means being the conduit between the public and the client, not being another salesman, no matter how clever.

If you're interested in seeing the modern fruition of Bernays's tactics, then I suggest Michael Levine's Guerilla PR: Wired, which updates Bernays's ideas into the digital age.

Overall, this book is well-worth reading if you're interested in a man's actions. But, if you're interested in seeing how a man's actions can affect the world, then you might be better off with another book.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great read!, November 28, 1999

By	Michael J Woznicki "Michael J Woznicki" (Holland, MA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Father of Spin: Edward L. Bernays and the Birth of Public Relations (Hardcover)

You've seen Wag the Dog and Primary Colors, you've watched politicians talk out of both sides of their mouths, you've seen the President get into trouble only to have the spin doctors bail him out. Ever wonder where it all started? This book is what you new to read to find out.

Larry Tye gives you the reader an in depth look at Edward Bernay's and the birth of public relation or the beginnings of spin. From Bernay's start in the 1920's to his revolutionary ideas of parading women down the streets of New York to promote smoking you'll get a fist hand look at how spin works.

Read through the 260 plus pages and see why we use spin, how public relations can and does affect public opinion. Watch and learn from the father or master of the public relations. Larry Tye has a well researched and extremely detail account of the beginnings.

Fascinated and educated are the two words to describe what I walked away from this book with. Fascination about Bernay's ability to make things come out his way and sway the public to follow, educated has to how spin control works in today's culture. A great read for all!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars poor style, spotty substance, September 4, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Father of Spin: Edward L. Bernays and the Birth of Public Relations (Hardcover)

Admittedly, I expected a lot from this book. I had just learned about Bernays from Stuart Ewen's book Spin: A Social History of PR & was looking forward to getting a balanced picture of this alleged master. Tye's book did not fit the bill and, unfortunately, most of Bernay's books seem to be out of print. My main problem with the book is that Tye does not document the connection between Bernay's schemes & their outcomes - were Bernay's efforts smoke & mirrors that simply presaged natural turns in public opinion or did they actually manage to influence public opinion? This is the main question that I wanted the book to address, and it simply did not do it. Furthermore, the book is structured non-chronologically, and Tye does not have the skill as an author to bring Bernay's life together coherently in this manner; at best the structure is a good idea poorly executed. Check out Ewen's book for a more cogent history of public relations (including Bernay's innovations).