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The Case Of Edward Bernays

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Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines ethics as, “the discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation” (Merriam-Webster, 2017). In the field of Public Relations, ethics is a determining factor in reaching out and building relationships with audiences. Often times, people will choose whether or not to place their trust in a campaign, business, or company based on how they portray themselves ethically. However, there have been several instances where people have acted unethically in the field of Public Relations and still became successful. In the case of Edward Bernays, acting ethically was not a point of emphasis. In fact, Bernays’ unethical public relations tactics and use of propaganda brought him fame and …show more content…

77-78).
During the 1920s, Bernays was hired by the American Tobacco Company to tap into the women’s market and get women to begin smoking cigarettes outside. According to Mostegel (2016), George W. Hill, president of the American Tobacco Company had asked Bernays, “How can we get women to smoke on the street? They 're smoking indoors. But, damn it, if they spend half the time outdoors and we can get 'em to smoke outdoors, we 'll damn near double our female market. Do something. Act!” (p. 41). Although Bernays was already a well-known public relations practitioner by this point in his career, accomplishing that task would not be easy. The 1920s was a period where women would begin to have as many rights as men, however, they still were not treated equally. In the nineteenth century, smoking was considered ‘unlady like’ and masculine. In the early twentieth century, women began to smoke, but were faced with obstacles. It was still unacceptable for men and women to smoke in the same place. And in 1922, the District of Columbia proposed a bill to ban the consumption of cigarettes by women (Leal, Filho, Rocha, 1998, p.47). Essentially, getting women to smoke outside would not be an easy task.
Bernays saw potential in the women’s rights movement as a way to push his agendas. In his novel Propaganda, he writes, “If the suffrage campaign did nothing more, it showed the

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