An Introduction to Freud & Bernays by N Williamson

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g n i c u d o r nt

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d u e Fr By N.Williamson

Freud was an Austrian neurologist, who later became famously known as the founder of psychoanalysis. Psychoanalysis is a combination of approaches and techniques to make repressed unconscious feelings conscious. Freud developed a method of “talk therapy” which focusses on talking through a patient’s thoughts and dreams to get to the underlying cause of a problem. An Introduction to Freud & Bernays


WHAT LIES BENEATH?

Freud believed that beneath our rational exteriors lays a primal, irrational self. What we see on the surface is only the tip of the iceberg.

To Freud, people were fundamentally all the same. We all have the same innate desires, basic needs and instincts. In his Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis, Freud summarised his theories and observations of humans. As a gift, he gave a copy of the lectures to his nephew Edward Bernays. An Introduction to Freud & Bernays


Bernays used this knowledge to control and manipulate the masses, making many companies very rich and changing the whole of Western civilisation. Advertisements no longer promoted the functionalities of a product. Bernays’ insight taught companies that they should sell to the irrational self. Advertisements were used to sell a lifestyle, ideal or emotion. An Introduction to Freud & Bernays

SELLING THE DREAM, NOT SELLING PRODUCTS “WE MUST SHIFT AMERICA FROM A NEEDS TO A DESIRES CULTURE” - Paul Mazer of Lehman Brothers financial services firm.


A CHANGE IN SOCIETY It all began when a cigarette company approached Bernays’ with the problem that he was losing half of his customer base because women would not smoke. In order to change this, Bernays turned to Psychoanalysis to find the route cause of the problem.

Bernays found that to women, cigarettes symbolised the penis and mae power. So all he had to do was find a way to connect cigarettes with challenging male power and women would smoke - simples! An Introduction to Freud & Bernays


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Bernays staged a

publicity stunt at an Easter Parade in New York where a group of women lit and smoked “Torches of Freedom” as a symbol of female equality. The press had been tipped off and were waiting to capture the event which was broadcast to the masses. Everyone wanted to be a part of the “movement” An Introduction to Freud & Bernays

Overnight, the sales of cigarettes to women soared! Bernays was now sure of the ability to control society and

train people what to desire and what to consume.


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