Manipulating Public Opinion: The Why and The How
Author(s): Edward L. Bernays
Source: American Journal of Sociology , May, 1928, Vol. 33, No. 6 (May, 1928), pp. 958-
971
Published by: The University of Chicago Press
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/2765989
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide
range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and
facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at
https://about.jstor.org/terms
The University of Chicago Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend
access to American Journal of Sociology
This content downloaded from
147.251.101.162 on Tue, 01 Nov 2022 07:46:42 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
MANIPULATING PUBLIC OPINION: THE WHY
AND THE HOW
EDWARD L. BERNAYS
New York City
ABSTRACT
Public opinion, narrowly defined, is the thought of a society at a given time toward
a given object; broadly conceived, it is the power of the group to sway the
larger public in its attitude. Public opinion can be manipulated, but in teaching the
public how to ask for what it wants the manipulator is safeguarding the public
against his own possible aggressiveness. The method of the experimental psychologist
is not as effective in the study of public opinion in the broad sense as is that of
introspective psychology. To create and to change public opinion it-is necessary to
understand human motives, to know what special interests are represented by a given
population, and to realize the function and limitations of the physical organs of approach
to the public, such as the radio, the platform, the movie, the letter, the newspaper,
etc. If the general principles of swaying public opinion are understood, a
technique can be developed which, with the correct appraisal of the specific problem
and the specific audience, can and has been used effectively in such widely different
situations as changing the attitude of whites toward Negroes in America, changing
the buying habits of American women from felt hats to velvet, silk, and straw hats,
changing the impression which the American electorate has of its President, introducing
new musical instruments, and a variety of others. Group adherence is essential
in changing the attitudes of the public. Authoritative and influential groups may
become important channels of reaching the larger public. Ideas and situations must
be made impressive and dramatic in order to overcome the inertia of established
traditions and prejudices.
Public opinion is subject to a variety of influences that develop
and alter its views on nearly every phase of life today. Religion,
science, art, commerce, industry are in a state of motion. The inertia
of society and institutions is constantly combated by the activity
of individuals with strong convictions and desires.
Civilization, however, is limited by inertia. We repeat constantly
our beliefs and habits until they become a cumulative retrogressive
force.
Our attitude toward social intercourse, toward economics, toward
national and international politics continues past attitudes
and strengthens them under the force of tradition. Comstock lets
his mantle of proselytizing morality fall on a willing Sumner; Penrose
lets fall his mantle on Butler; Carnegie his on Schwab; and so
958
This content downloaded from
147.251.101.162 on Tue, 01 Nov 2022 07:46:42 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
MANIPULATING PUBLIC OPINION 959
ad infinitum. Opposing this traditional acceptanc
is an active public opinion that has been directed consciously into
movement against inertia. Public opinion was made or changed
formerly by tribal chiefs, by kings, by religious leaders. Today the
privilege of attempting to sway public opinion is everyone's. It is
one of the manifestations of democracy that anyone may try to
convince others and to assume leadership on behalf of his own
thesis.
Narrowly defined, public opinion represents the thought of any
given group of society at any given time toward a given object.
Looked at from the broadest standpoint, it is the power of the
group to sway the larger public in its attitude toward ideas.
New ideas, new precedents, are continually striving for a place
in the scheme of things. Very often these ideas are socially sound
and constructive and put an end to worn-out notions. Usually they
are minority ideas, for naturally, but regrettably, majority ideas
are most often old ones. Public opinion is slow and reactionary,
and does not easily accept new ideas.
The innovator, the leader, the special pleader for new ideas,
has through necessity developed a new technique-the psychology
of public persuasion. Through the application of this new psychology
he is able to bring about changes in public opinion that will
make for the acceptance of new doctrines, beliefs, and habits. The
manipulation of the public mind, which is so marked a characteristic
of society today, serves a social purpose. This manipulation
serves to gain acceptance for new ideas. It is a species of education
in that it presents new problems for study and consideration
to the public, and leaves it free to approve or reject them. Never
before was so broad a section of the general public so subjected to
facts on both sides of so many problems of life. Honest education
and honest propaganda have much in common. There is this dissimilarity:
Education attempts to be disinterested, while propaganda
is frankly partisan.
What are the various motives for the manipulation of public
opinion? They are the motives which dominate man in our society
today. The basic instincts of self-preservation, procreation, and
love are the more complex social motives. People attempt to sway
This content downloaded from
147.251.101.162 on Tue, 01 Nov 2022 07:46:42 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
960 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY
other people for social motives-ethical, philanthropic, educational
-for political, for international, for economic, and for motives of
personal ambition.
From a social motive a special pleader may wage a campaign
against tuberculosis or cancer, or to raise the standard of business
ethics, or to secure support for a philanthropic institution. From
the political standpoint, he may strive to make the public accept
the idea of specific efficiency or economy in government. Internationally
a special pleader may be seeking peace among the nations.
Or in economics he may try to create a new market for an old
product, or a market for a new product. Personal ambition to succeed,
to convince others, to win recognition are basic motives that
have activated most of the leaders of the world.
There is, of course, one danger inherent in this essential machinery
of dealing with public opinion. It is a danger so grave that
editors and publicists shy from the subject rather than discuss it.
Where shall we end, they say, in this welter of conflicting ideas?
What will come from this chaos? And cannot the iYan who has
manipulated his public opinion and won it to his side misuse it for
his own purpose? Possibly he can. There are Ku Klux Klans,
there are Mussolinis, there are tyrannies of every sort; but a public
that learns more and more how to express itself will learn more and
more how to overthrow tyranny of every sort. So that every man
who teaches the public how to ask for what it wants is at the same
time teaching the public how to safeguard itself against his own
possible tyrannous aggressiveness.
How is public opinion manipulated? The technique of measuring
and recording human relations has not been perfected as has
the technique of measuring physical relations. No Bureau of Standards
with micrometers exists for the expert on human or public
relations. Experimental psychology has provided some yardsticks,
but they are not clearly defined and are more easily applied to one
field of manipulated public opinion-advertising-than to the
broader field of propaganda or public relations.
It is comparatively simple to test out the comparative efficacy
of a page advertisement with white space and an advertisement
which is printed solidly, or of a colored billboard and a black-andThis
content downloaded from
147.251.101.162 on Tue, 01 Nov 2022 07:46:42 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
MANIPULATING PUBLIC OPINION 96I
white billboard. But the method of the experimental psychological
laboratories hardly meets the requirements of the technician who
deals with public opinion in the broad.
Here the specialist in swaying public opinion avails himself of
the, findings of introspective psychology. He knows in general the
basic emotions and desires of the public he intends to reach, and
their prevalence and intensity. Analysis is the first step in dealing
with a problem that concerns the public. He employs the technique
of statistics, field-surveying, and the various methods of eliciting
facts and opinions in examining both the public, and the idea or
product he seeks to propagandize.
Diagnostic ability enters into this question of manipulating
public opinion; a diagnostic ability that is perhaps a greater essential
in manipulating public opinion effectively today than it will be
later, when the technique has been more scientifically developed.
Sociology also contributes to his technique. The group cleavages
of society, the importance of group leaders, and the habits of
their followers are part of the technical background of his work.
He has methods adapted to educating the public to new ideas, to
articulating minority ideas and strengthening them, to making latent
majority ideas active, to making an old principle apply to a
new idea, to substituting ideas by changing cliches, to overcoming
prejudices, to making a part stand for the whole, and to creating
events and circumstances that stand for his ideas. He must know
the physical organs 'of approach to his public: the radio, the lecture
platform, the motion picture, the letter, the advertisement, the
pamphlet, the newspaper. He must know how an idea can be translated
into terms that fit any given form of communication, and that
his public can understand.
An interesting experiment is being conducted in New York in
an endeavor to chart these human relationships along scientific
lines. The first study of this group was to trace the development
and functioning of given attitudes toward given subjects, such as
religion, sex, race, morality, nationalism, internationalism, and so
forth. The conclusion was established that attitudes were often
created by a circumstance or circumstances of dramatic moment.
Very often the propagandist is called upon to create a circumThis
content downloaded from
147.251.101.162 on Tue, 01 Nov 2022 07:46:42 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
962 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY
stance that will eventuate in the desired reaction on the part of the
public he is endeavoring to reach.
So much for principle; how, in practice, does this manipulating
process work out?
Take the question of the fight against lynching, Jim Crowism,
and the civil discriminations against the Negro below the Mason
and Dixon line. How was public opinion manipulated after the war
to bring about a change, or at least a modification for the better, in
the public attitude toward the Negro? The National Association
for the Improvement of the Colored People had the fight in hand.
As a matter of technique they decided to dramatize the year's campaign
in an annual convention which would center attention at one
time and at one place upon the ideas they stood for and upon the
men who stood for these ideas. The purpose of this convention was
to build up for the question and for its proponents the support of
all those who would necessarily learn of the conference.
The first step in the technique settled, the next step was to decide
how to make it most effective.
Should it be held in the North, South, West, or East? Since
the purpose was to affect the entire country, the association was advised
to hold it in the South. For, said the propagandist, a point of
view on a southern question, emanating from a southern center,
would have a greater force of authority than the same point of
view issuing from any other locality, particularly when that point
of view was at odds with the traditional southern point of view. Atlanta
was chosen.
The third step was to surround the conference with people who
were stereotypes for ideas that carried weight all over the country.
The support of leaders of diversified groups was sought. Telegrams
and letters were dispatched to leaders of religious, political, social,
and educational groups, asking for their point of view on the purpose
of the conference. But in addition to these group leaders of
national standing it was particularly important from the technical
standpoint to secure the opinions of group leaders of the South,
even from Atlanta itself, to emphasize the purposes of the conference
to the entire public. There was one group in Atlanta which
could be approached. A group of ministers, on the basis of ChrisThis
content downloaded from
147.251.101.162 on Tue, 01 Nov 2022 07:46:42 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
MANIPULATING PUBLIC OPINION 963
tianity, had been bold enough to come out for a greater interracial
amity. This group was approached and agreed to co-operate in the
conference.
Here, then, were main factors of a created circumstance; a
conference to be held in a southern city, with the participation of
national leaders and especially with the participation of southern
gentlemen.
The scene had been set. The acts of the play followed logically.
And the event ran off as scheduled. The program itself followed
the general scheme. Negroes and white men from the South
on the same platform, expressing the same point of view.
A dramatic element spotlighted here and there. A national
leader from Massachusetts, descendant of an Abolitionist, agreeing
in principle and in practice with a Baptist preacher from the South.
If the radio had been in, effect, the whole country would have
heard and been moved by the speeches and the principles expressed.
But the public read the words and the ideas in the press of the
country. For the event had been created of such important component
parts as to awaken interest throughout the country and to gain
support for its ideas even in the South.
The editorials in the southern press, reflecting the public opinion
of their communities, showed that the subject had become one
of interest to the editors because of the participation by southern
leaders.
The event naturally gave the Association itself substantial
weapons with which to appeal to an increasingly wider circle. Further
expansion of these thoughts was attained by mailing reports,
letters, and other documents to selected groups of the public. Who
can tell what homes, what smoking-rooms in Pullman cars and hotels,
what schoolrooms, what churches, what Rotary and Kiwanis
clubs responded to the keynote struck by these men and women
speaking in Atlanta!
As for the practical results, the immediate one was a change in
the minds of many southern editors who realized that the question
at issue was not an emotional one, but a discussable one; and that
this point of view was immediately reflected to their readers. As
for the further results, these are hard to measure with a slide rule.
This content downloaded from
147.251.101.162 on Tue, 01 Nov 2022 07:46:42 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
964 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY
The conference had its effect in changing the attitude of southerners;
it had its definite effect in building up the racial consciousness
and solidarity of the Negroes; it had its effect in bringing to the
South in a very dramatic way a realization of the problems it was
facing, with the consequent desire among its leaders to face them
more ably. It is evident that the decline in lynching is an effect of
this and other efforts of the association.
But let us touch another field, that of industry. The millinery
industry two years ago was hanging by a thread. The felt hat had
arrived and was crowding out the manufacture of all those kinds of
hats and hat ornaments upon which an industry and thousands of
men and women employed in it had subsisted. What to do to prevent
debacle?
A public-relations counsel was called in by the association of
the millinery trade, both wholesale and retail. He analyzed the hat
situation and found that the hats made by the manufacturer could
roughly be classified into six groups: the lace hat, the ribbon hat,
the straw and feather-trimmed and other ornamented hats, and
so on.
The public relations counsel tabulated the elements of the social
structure that dominated the hat-using habits of women. These
he found comprised four classes: Fiist, the society leader, the
woman at the fountain-head of style who made the fashion by her
approval. Second, there was the style expert, the writer or publicist
who enunciated fashion facts and information. Third was the
artist, who was needed to give artistic approval to the styles. Fourth,
and not unimportant either, were beautiful women to wear the embodied
ideas sanctioned by the other groups. The problem, then,
was to bring into juxtaposition all of these groups, and preferably
at one time and at one place, before an audience of those most concerned,
the buyers of hats.
With that as a working plan of how to shape events to bring
about the desired result, the remainder of the work was simply
filling in the outline with real people.
A committee of prominent artists was organized to choose the
six most beautiful girls in New York to wear, in a series of six tableaux,
the six most beautiful hats of the six style classifications at a
This content downloaded from
147.251.101.162 on Tue, 01 Nov 2022 07:46:42 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
MANIPULATING PUBLIC OPINION 965
fashion fete to be held at the Hotel Astor. Heyworth Campbell,
art editor of the Conde Nast publications, was head of the committee.
Leo Lentelli, the sculptor; Charles Dana Gibson; Henry
Creange, the art director; Ray Greenleaf, joined the group and
toiled mightily to choose from among hundreds of applicants the
six most desirable candidates.
In the meantime there was organized a style committee of distinguished
American women who, on a basis of their interest in the
development of an American industry, were willing to add the authority
of their names to the idea. And, simultaneously, there was
organized a style committee consisting of Carmel White, of Vogue,
and other prominent fashion authorities who were willing to support
the idea because of its style value. The girls had been chosen.
Now they chose the hats.
On the evening of the fashion show everything had been arranged
for the dramatic juxtaposition of all of these elements for
molding public opinion. The girls-beautiful girls-in their lovely
hats and costumes paraded on the running-board before an audience
of the entire trade.
The news of the event affected not only the buying habits of
the onlookers, but also of the women throughout the country. The
story of the event was flashed to the consumer by the news service
of her newspaper as well as by the advertisement of her favorite
store. Broadsides went to the millinery buyer from the manufacturer,
and the rotogravure of the lovely women in the lovely hats
went to the consumer in the smallest town. In ten days the industry
was humming. One manufacturer stated that whereas before the
show he had not sold any large trimmed hats, after it he sold thousands.
The felt hat was put to rout; not by Paris immediately, but
by the women in this country, who quite rightly accepted the leadership
of the fashion groups who had created the circumstances as
they are outlined here.
If large trimmed hats could put to rout the small felt cloche,
then perhaps velvet could also make its inroads upon the style habits
of twenty-three million women. Analysis showed that the velvet
manufacturers could not start their fashion here. Fashion came
from Paris. That Lyons, home of silk manufactories, and Paris,
This content downloaded from
147.251.101.162 on Tue, 01 Nov 2022 07:46:42 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
966 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY
home of coutur'eres and milliners, influenced the American markets,
both of manufacture and distribution, there was no doubt.
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 the 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 couturiEres to find out 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 into the work. It was he who visited Lanvin and
Worth, Agnes and Patou, etc., and induced them to use velvet in
their gowns and their 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 editor of the American magazine and the fashion reporter
of the American newspaper, likewise subjected to the actual
(though created) circumstance, reflected it in her news, which, in
turn, subjected the consumer and the buyer here to the same influences.
The result was that what was at first a trickle of velvet became
a flood. A demand was slowly being created, not fortuitously,
but consciously. A big department store, aiming to be a style leader,
advertised velvet gowns and hats on the authority of French
couturieres and quoted original cables received from them. The
echo of the new style note resounded from hundreds of department
stores throughout the country who wanted to be style leaders too.
Broadside followed broadside, the mail followed the cables,
and the American woman traveler appeared before ship news photographers
in velvet gown and hat.
The created circumstances had their effect. Velvet was the
fashion. "Fickle fashion had veered to velvet," was one newspaper
comment. And the industry in South Manchester and Patterson
again kept thousands busy.
This content downloaded from
147.251.101.162 on Tue, 01 Nov 2022 07:46:42 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
MANIPULATING PUBLIC OPINION 967
The fields in which public opinion can be manipulated to conform
to a desired result are as varied as life itself.
In politics, for instance, in order to humanize an individual:
When President Coolidge was running for office the question was
brought up of how the hitherto unknown personality of the man
in the White House could be projected to the country.
It was suggested that an event in which the most human groups
would be brought into juxtaposition with the president would have
the desired result. Actors and actresses were invited to breakfast
with Mr. Coolidge at the White House. The country felt that a
man in the White House who could laugh with Al Jolson and the
Dolly sisters was not frigid and unsympathetic.
An interesting example of international propaganda is the campaign
that was waged to make iIO,OOO,ooo people in America realize
that a small' country on the Baltic was not simply a spot on
the map. Lithuania was reflected to this country in its drama, music,
literature, habits, economics, and agriculture. The printed
word and events created to symbolize facts and ideas made America
aware of the conditions in Lithuania and of its just aspirations.
Ignorance was dissipated and sympathies strengthened to a point
where these feelings became translated into action. Lithuania received
economic aid and political recognition.
From Lithuania to silks is a long distance. And yet the same
technique of creating circumstance which freed the Lithuanians
helped to create a market for more beautiful silks. Although the
silks made in America were inspired by France, the American
woman refused to recognize their style of beauty until Paris had
put its stamp of approval on them. That was the problem: to develop
public opinion to accept the idea that American silk was artistic,
and to use French authority in accomplishing that end. The
silks were authentic in beauty, workmanship, and style. A plan
was developed to have the silks exhibited in the Louvre, because
that stands for the idea of accredited beauty in the American mind.
It was suggested that the American ambassador officially open the
exhibition, as a fitting recognition of America's leadership in the
field. He felt legitimately that he was doing his duty in encouraging
American industry. Leading men and women in the French
This content downloaded from
147.251.101.162 on Tue, 01 Nov 2022 07:46:42 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
968 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY
capital were invited to the exhibition, with the consequence that by
cable, by motion picture, by mail, the American public was soon
made conscious of the fact that its own silk had received the recognition
of the French art authorities. It must be good, therefore!
And the best index of the success of the plan was the fact that the
leading cities of the United States vied with each other for the honor
of exhibiting what the Louvre had shown, whereas before they had
regarded the productions of America's looms simply as so much
merchandise.
As for the companies interested in gaining acceptance for new
inventions, how can they overcome the inertia of the public without
applying some stimulus to public opinion? The panatrope, an instrument
which is the result of years of painstaking experimentation
in the electrical and acoustical laboratories of four great
corporations-the Westinghouse, the General Electric, the Radio
Corporation, and the Brunswick-Balke-Collender companies-was
perfected and ready for general sale. A definite technique must be
used to launch it to affect the minds of millions who presumably
are much more interested in football scores and Lindbergh than in
a new mechanical principle in music-making machinery. Group adherence
is the fulcrum around which broad acceptance for new
ideas can most rapidly be moved. Certain small groups are important
enough to influence the attitudes of large groups that overlap
them. First were the music lovers and critics, whose acceptance of
this new idea carried weight with the average buyer of musical instruments,
who without their aid could not formulate an opinion as
to the quality of this machine. Scientists were selected to join the
committee of sponsorship that had been formed. Their support of
the idea meant to the public that it was scientifically correct. Third
was the stereotype of the Metropolitan Opera House, which stands
in the public mind for achievement in music. It was decided to
gather all of these elements together at a single dramatic event in a
place which should further symbolize the idea. The patrons of music
were chosen: Mrs. Vincent Astor and Mr. Otto Kahn joined
the committee. The scientists, John Hays Hammond and Doctor
Alfred N. Goldsmith, were happy to give their authority to the idea
and joined the committee. Benjamino Gigli, a tenor of the MetroThis
content downloaded from
147.251.101.162 on Tue, 01 Nov 2022 07:46:42 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
MANIPULATING PUBLIC OPINION 969
politan Opera Company, gave the artistic stamp of approval to the
event. And quite naturally Aeolian Hall, the nucleus of music, was
chosen as the place at which the event was to be held. A representative
audience responded to the invitation. The event was important
and interesting and took a prominent place among the competitive
ideas and events of the day. The consequence was that the
Panatrope immediately received acceptance as an important musical
instrument. Without the definite procedure of implanting a
new idea in the public mind, the inertia of society might have retarded
the acceptance of this invention in the musical field for
many years.
Public opinion may be marshaled for or against even salad
dressings. Here the American's sense of humor was made the basis
of a plan to make large numbers of the public receptive to a new
product. Reciprocal relations between the palate and the palette in
terms of harmonies in oil were made the basis of a picturesque joke.
The public, more seriously occupied with Chinese revolutions and
Nicaraguan questions, responded immediately to the idea that art
galleries are fitting places, not only for still-lifes of salads as painted
by famous artists, but also of examples of art in cooking. Beautifully
prepared salads dedicated to famous artists were therefore
displayed underneath canvases painted by famous artists. The exhibit
was colorful and spirited and had its effect in focusing attention
on salad dressing. That newspapers offer space in their columns
and devote time and attention to such an exhibit is not the
relevant point. What is relevant is that an idea may strike the
fancy and arrest the attention of hundreds of thousands of people,
and as such can be communicated to them through every form of
thought-transmission of which modern business avails itself.
Analysis of the problem and its causes is the first step toward
shaping the public mind on any subject. Occasionally the analysis
points to a basic change in the policy of a manufacturer.
Take the case of a certain vegetable shortening. There was no
sale of this food product in certain sections of the public. A careful
research was made. It was found that orthodox Jews would not
buy it because it did not conform to the dietary requirements of
their religion. The manufacturer altered the product itself to make
This content downloaded from
147.251.101.162 on Tue, 01 Nov 2022 07:46:42 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
970 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY
it conform to the dietary strictures of this market. The problem
that lay before him then was to acquaint this sector of the population
with the change. This problem was handled with success. The
stamp of approval was given the product by religious leaders and
special dietary officials. Institutions such as hospitals, that were
known to conform scrupulously to the dietary rules, were asked to
convince themselves of the character and quality of the product.
Their approval bore weight with the thousands of people who respected
their authority.
One method of changing people's ideas has been often used,
and that is to substitute new ideas for old by changing clich1s. The
evacuation hospitals during the war came in for a certain amount
of criticism because of the summary way in which they handled
their wounded. The name was changed to "evacuation post," thus
changing the cliche. No one expected more than adequate emergency
treatment of an institution so named. This story, which was
told to me by a reliable authority, is a clear illustration of the prin-
ciple.
Before I925 few people in America felt that industry had any
connection with art. Few manufacturers thought seriously of the
artistic ramifications of their work. A small group of people, however,
realizing the importance of this phase of American industry,
aproached Herbert Hoover, secretary of commerce, and suggested
that he appoint a commission to visit and report on the International
Exposition of Industrial and Decorative Arts at Paris in I925.
I was appointed associate commissioner. We appointed about I 50
delegates from different industries to study the exposition at Paris.
A report was made. Industry itself became conscious of the new
cliche' of themselves that had been made in this way. Since then a
determined progress toward authentic beauty has been made in
large industries throughout the country.
Soap found a new market and a new use when the public-relations
counsel of a large soap corporation called upon the desire for
beauty of a strong minority of the population and introduced soap
as a medium for sculpture as a pastime for children and as an educational
aid for schools. An annual contest has been held for several
years in a leading art gallery, and exhibits of the works of
This content downloaded from
147.251.101.162 on Tue, 01 Nov 2022 07:46:42 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
MANIPULATING PUBLIC OPINION 97I
thousands of professional and amateur sculptors
ing galleries and museums of the country.
Instantaneous attention was given to the financial articles of
W. Z. Ripley, asking for full publicity in financial reports of stock
corporations. He articulated an idea that was latent in the minds
Gf a large majority of the public. The next step was to convert this
new awareness into action. Public opinion, aroused by Ripley,
forced the New York Stock Exchange to take action.
Occasionally the manipulation of the public mind entails the
removal of a prejudice. Prejudices are often the application of old
taboos to new conditions. They are illogical, emotional, and hampering
to progress. Take, for example, the feeling that used to
exist against margarine. In its early stages of manufacture in this
country, margarine was, like as not, made of impure animal matter.
Its state of wholesomeness was not apparent. Today margarine is
made of pure vegetable or animal ingredients that have been scientifically
determined upon as wholesome and passed as pure by
the government. Yet the prejudice carried over, and a difficult
campaign is still being waged to remove this prejudice. Correspondence
is carried on with officials and leaders in the field of
medicine, hygiene, and dietetics, and the result of their manifold
study given out to the public. The prejudice remained long after
its cause had been altered.
This is an age of mass production. In the mass production of
materials a broad technique has been developed and applied to
their distribution. In this age, too, there must be a technique for
the mass distribution of ideas. Public opinion can be moved, directed,
and formed by such a technique. But at the core of this
great heterogeneous body of public opinion is a tenacious will to
live, to progress, to move in the direction of ultimate social and individual
benefit. He who seeks to manipulate public opinion must
always heed it.
This content downloaded from
147.251.101.162 on Tue, 01 Nov 2022 07:46:42 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms