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Vacant advert boards on Ikeja, Oshodi, Onipanu and Obalende-CMS pedestrian footbridges in Lagos state, contact us;

Vacant advert boards on Ikeja, Oshodi, Onipanu and Obalende-CMS pedestrian footbridges in Lagos state, contact us;

Vacant advert boards on Ikeja, Oshodi, Onipanu and Obalende-CMS pedestrian footbridges in Lagos state, contact us;

Vacant advert boards on Ikeja, Oshodi, Onipanu and Obalende-CMS pedestrian footbridges in Lagos state, contact us;

Vacant advert boards on Ikeja, Oshodi, Onipanu and Obalende-CMS pedestrian footbridges in Lagos state, contact us;

Vacant advert boards on Ikeja, Oshodi, Onipanu and Obalende-CMS pedestrian footbridges in Lagos state, contact us;

*Edward Bernays’s “Torches of Freedom”*

Long before carefully orchestrated surprise street events were termed ‘flash mobs,’ Edward Bernays organized the Torches of Freedom event as part of a sophisticated persuasive campaign. How did Bernays link smoking a cigarette with women’s fight for equality?

Instead, the event described was the “Torches of Freedom” march; the ‘influentials’ were New York debutantes; and the site was an Easter parade on Fifth Avenue in New York. The date, however, was 1930 and the man behind the scenes was Edward Bernays. Bernays competes with Ivy Lee for the legacy of being known as the father of public relations.

Bernays coordinated the Torches of Freedom event on behalf of his client George Washington Hill, president of the American Tobacco Company. Here is how Bernays recalls the project in his memoir Biography of an Idea:

“Hill called me in. “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!”

“There’s a taboo against such smoking,” I said. “Let me consult an expert, Dr. A.A. Brill, the psychoanalyst. He might give me the psychological basis for a woman’s desire to smoke, and maybe this will help me.”

“What will it cost?”

“I suppose just a consultation fee.”

“Shoot,” said Hill.

(Bernays was no stranger to psychoanalysis. His uncle was Sigmund Freud.)

Brill explained to me: “Some women regard cigarettes as symbols of freedom,” he told me. “Smoking is a sublimation of oral eroticism; holding a cigarette in the mouth excites the oral zone. It is perfectly normal for women to want to smoke cigarettes… But today the emancipation of women has suppressed many of their feminine desires… Feminine traits are masked. Cigarettes, which are equated with men, become torches of freedom.”

“In this last statement I found a way to help break the taboo against women smoking in public. Why not a parade of women lighting torches of freedom – smoking cigarettes?”

Bernays called friends at Vogue magazine to get a list of debutantes. Then he had his secretary, Bertha Hunt, sign and send a personalized telegram to each one. Think direct-messaging; 1930’s style:

“IN THE INTERESTS OF EQUALITY OF THE SEXES AND TO FIGHT ANOTHER SEX TABOO I AND OTHER YOUNG WOMEN WILL LIGHT ANOTHER TORCH OF FREEDOM BY SMOKING CIGARETTES WHILE STROLLING ON FIFTH AVENUE EASTER SUNDAY. WE ARE DOING THIS TO COMBAT THE SILLY PREJUDICE THAT THE CIGARETTE IS SUITABLE FOR THE HOME, THE RESTAURANT, THE TAXICAB, THE THEATER LOBBY, BUT NEVER NO NEVER FOR THE SIDEWALK. WOMEN SMOKERS AND THEIR ESCORTS WILL STROLL FROM FORTY-EIGHTH STREET TO FIFTY-FOURTH STREET ON FIFTH AVENUE BETWEEN ELEVEN-THIRTY AND ONE O’CLOCK.”

It worked. Bernays reported that the event made front-page news in both photos and text and opened editorial debates in the weeks that followed in publications from coast to coast. As evidence of his success he cited newspaper reports in Massachusetts, Michigan, California, and West Virginia that women were smoking on the streets. “Age-old customs, I learned, could be broken down by a dramatic appeal, disseminated by the network of media.”

*While Bernays’ strategy was mostly intuitive and his reasoning was mostly theoretical, the case illustrates the power of public relations tactics as powerful tools for persuasion.*

*Edward Bernays’s “Torches of Freedom”*

Long before carefully orchestrated surprise street events were termed ‘flash mobs,’ Edward Bernays organized the Torches of Freedom event as part of a sophisticated persuasive campaign. How did Bernays link smoking a cigarette with women’s fight for equality?

Instead, the event described was the “Torches of Freedom” march; the ‘influentials’ were New York debutantes; and the site was an Easter parade on Fifth Avenue in New York. The date, however, was 1930 and the man behind the scenes was Edward Bernays. Bernays competes with Ivy Lee for the legacy of being known as the father of public relations.

Bernays coordinated the Torches of Freedom event on behalf of his client George Washington Hill, president of the American Tobacco Company. Here is how Bernays recalls the project in his memoir Biography of an Idea:

“Hill called me in. “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!”

“There’s a taboo against such smoking,” I said. “Let me consult an expert, Dr. A.A. Brill, the psychoanalyst. He might give me the psychological basis for a woman’s desire to smoke, and maybe this will help me.”

“What will it cost?”

“I suppose just a consultation fee.”

“Shoot,” said Hill.

(Bernays was no stranger to psychoanalysis. His uncle was Sigmund Freud.)

Brill explained to me: “Some women regard cigarettes as symbols of freedom,” he told me. “Smoking is a sublimation of oral eroticism; holding a cigarette in the mouth excites the oral zone. It is perfectly normal for women to want to smoke cigarettes… But today the emancipation of women has suppressed many of their feminine desires… Feminine traits are masked. Cigarettes, which are equated with men, become torches of freedom.”

“In this last statement I found a way to help break the taboo against women smoking in public. Why not a parade of women lighting torches of freedom – smoking cigarettes?”

Bernays called friends at Vogue magazine to get a list of debutantes. Then he had his secretary, Bertha Hunt, sign and send a personalized telegram to each one. Think direct-messaging; 1930’s style:

“IN THE INTERESTS OF EQUALITY OF THE SEXES AND TO FIGHT ANOTHER SEX TABOO I AND OTHER YOUNG WOMEN WILL LIGHT ANOTHER TORCH OF FREEDOM BY SMOKING CIGARETTES WHILE STROLLING ON FIFTH AVENUE EASTER SUNDAY. WE ARE DOING THIS TO COMBAT THE SILLY PREJUDICE THAT THE CIGARETTE IS SUITABLE FOR THE HOME, THE RESTAURANT, THE TAXICAB, THE THEATER LOBBY, BUT NEVER NO NEVER FOR THE SIDEWALK. WOMEN SMOKERS AND THEIR ESCORTS WILL STROLL FROM FORTY-EIGHTH STREET TO FIFTY-FOURTH STREET ON FIFTH AVENUE BETWEEN ELEVEN-THIRTY AND ONE O’CLOCK.”

It worked. Bernays reported that the event made front-page news in both photos and text and opened editorial debates in the weeks that followed in publications from coast to coast. As evidence of his success he cited newspaper reports in Massachusetts, Michigan, California, and West Virginia that women were smoking on the streets. “Age-old customs, I learned, could be broken down by a dramatic appeal, disseminated by the network of media.”

*While Bernays’ strategy was mostly intuitive and his reasoning was mostly theoretical, the case illustrates the power of public relations tactics as powerful tools for persuasion.*

*Edward Bernays’s “Torches of Freedom”*

Long before carefully orchestrated surprise street events were termed ‘flash mobs,’ Edward Bernays organized the Torches of Freedom event as part of a sophisticated persuasive campaign. How did Bernays link smoking a cigarette with women’s fight for equality?

Instead, the event described was the “Torches of Freedom” march; the ‘influentials’ were New York debutantes; and the site was an Easter parade on Fifth Avenue in New York. The date, however, was 1930 and the man behind the scenes was Edward Bernays. Bernays competes with Ivy Lee for the legacy of being known as the father of public relations.

Bernays coordinated the Torches of Freedom event on behalf of his client George Washington Hill, president of the American Tobacco Company. Here is how Bernays recalls the project in his memoir Biography of an Idea:

“Hill called me in. “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!”

“There’s a taboo against such smoking,” I said. “Let me consult an expert, Dr. A.A. Brill, the psychoanalyst. He might give me the psychological basis for a woman’s desire to smoke, and maybe this will help me.”

“What will it cost?”

“I suppose just a consultation fee.”

“Shoot,” said Hill.

(Bernays was no stranger to psychoanalysis. His uncle was Sigmund Freud.)

Brill explained to me: “Some women regard cigarettes as symbols of freedom,” he told me. “Smoking is a sublimation of oral eroticism; holding a cigarette in the mouth excites the oral zone. It is perfectly normal for women to want to smoke cigarettes… But today the emancipation of women has suppressed many of their feminine desires… Feminine traits are masked. Cigarettes, which are equated with men, become torches of freedom.”

“In this last statement I found a way to help break the taboo against women smoking in public. Why not a parade of women lighting torches of freedom – smoking cigarettes?”

Bernays called friends at Vogue magazine to get a list of debutantes. Then he had his secretary, Bertha Hunt, sign and send a personalized telegram to each one. Think direct-messaging; 1930’s style:

“IN THE INTERESTS OF EQUALITY OF THE SEXES AND TO FIGHT ANOTHER SEX TABOO I AND OTHER YOUNG WOMEN WILL LIGHT ANOTHER TORCH OF FREEDOM BY SMOKING CIGARETTES WHILE STROLLING ON FIFTH AVENUE EASTER SUNDAY. WE ARE DOING THIS TO COMBAT THE SILLY PREJUDICE THAT THE CIGARETTE IS SUITABLE FOR THE HOME, THE RESTAURANT, THE TAXICAB, THE THEATER LOBBY, BUT NEVER NO NEVER FOR THE SIDEWALK. WOMEN SMOKERS AND THEIR ESCORTS WILL STROLL FROM FORTY-EIGHTH STREET TO FIFTY-FOURTH STREET ON FIFTH AVENUE BETWEEN ELEVEN-THIRTY AND ONE O’CLOCK.”

It worked. Bernays reported that the event made front-page news in both photos and text and opened editorial debates in the weeks that followed in publications from coast to coast. As evidence of his success he cited newspaper reports in Massachusetts, Michigan, California, and West Virginia that women were smoking on the streets. “Age-old customs, I learned, could be broken down by a dramatic appeal, disseminated by the network of media.”

*While Bernays’ strategy was mostly intuitive and his reasoning was mostly theoretical, the case illustrates the power of public relations tactics as powerful tools for persuasion.*

*Edward Bernays’s “Torches of Freedom”*

Long before carefully orchestrated surprise street events were termed ‘flash mobs,’ Edward Bernays organized the Torches of Freedom event as part of a sophisticated persuasive campaign. How did Bernays link smoking a cigarette with women’s fight for equality?

Instead, the event described was the “Torches of Freedom” march; the ‘influentials’ were New York debutantes; and the site was an Easter parade on Fifth Avenue in New York. The date, however, was 1930 and the man behind the scenes was Edward Bernays. Bernays competes with Ivy Lee for the legacy of being known as the father of public relations.

Bernays coordinated the Torches of Freedom event on behalf of his client George Washington Hill, president of the American Tobacco Company. Here is how Bernays recalls the project in his memoir Biography of an Idea:

“Hill called me in. “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!”

“There’s a taboo against such smoking,” I said. “Let me consult an expert, Dr. A.A. Brill, the psychoanalyst. He might give me the psychological basis for a woman’s desire to smoke, and maybe this will help me.”

“What will it cost?”

“I suppose just a consultation fee.”

“Shoot,” said Hill.

(Bernays was no stranger to psychoanalysis. His uncle was Sigmund Freud.)

Brill explained to me: “Some women regard cigarettes as symbols of freedom,” he told me. “Smoking is a sublimation of oral eroticism; holding a cigarette in the mouth excites the oral zone. It is perfectly normal for women to want to smoke cigarettes… But today the emancipation of women has suppressed many of their feminine desires… Feminine traits are masked. Cigarettes, which are equated with men, become torches of freedom.”

“In this last statement I found a way to help break the taboo against women smoking in public. Why not a parade of women lighting torches of freedom – smoking cigarettes?”

Bernays called friends at Vogue magazine to get a list of debutantes. Then he had his secretary, Bertha Hunt, sign and send a personalized telegram to each one. Think direct-messaging; 1930’s style:

“IN THE INTERESTS OF EQUALITY OF THE SEXES AND TO FIGHT ANOTHER SEX TABOO I AND OTHER YOUNG WOMEN WILL LIGHT ANOTHER TORCH OF FREEDOM BY SMOKING CIGARETTES WHILE STROLLING ON FIFTH AVENUE EASTER SUNDAY. WE ARE DOING THIS TO COMBAT THE SILLY PREJUDICE THAT THE CIGARETTE IS SUITABLE FOR THE HOME, THE RESTAURANT, THE TAXICAB, THE THEATER LOBBY, BUT NEVER NO NEVER FOR THE SIDEWALK. WOMEN SMOKERS AND THEIR ESCORTS WILL STROLL FROM FORTY-EIGHTH STREET TO FIFTY-FOURTH STREET ON FIFTH AVENUE BETWEEN ELEVEN-THIRTY AND ONE O’CLOCK.”

It worked. Bernays reported that the event made front-page news in both photos and text and opened editorial debates in the weeks that followed in publications from coast to coast. As evidence of his success he cited newspaper reports in Massachusetts, Michigan, California, and West Virginia that women were smoking on the streets. “Age-old customs, I learned, could be broken down by a dramatic appeal, disseminated by the network of media.”

*While Bernays’ strategy was mostly intuitive and his reasoning was mostly theoretical, the case illustrates the power of public relations tactics as powerful tools for persuasion.*

*Edward Bernays’s “Torches of Freedom”*

Long before carefully orchestrated surprise street events were termed ‘flash mobs,’ Edward Bernays organized the Torches of Freedom event as part of a sophisticated persuasive campaign. How did Bernays link smoking a cigarette with women’s fight for equality?

Instead, the event described was the “Torches of Freedom” march; the ‘influentials’ were New York debutantes; and the site was an Easter parade on Fifth Avenue in New York. The date, however, was 1930 and the man behind the scenes was Edward Bernays. Bernays competes with Ivy Lee for the legacy of being known as the father of public relations.

Bernays coordinated the Torches of Freedom event on behalf of his client George Washington Hill, president of the American Tobacco Company. Here is how Bernays recalls the project in his memoir Biography of an Idea:

“Hill called me in. “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!”

“There’s a taboo against such smoking,” I said. “Let me consult an expert, Dr. A.A. Brill, the psychoanalyst. He might give me the psychological basis for a woman’s desire to smoke, and maybe this will help me.”

“What will it cost?”

“I suppose just a consultation fee.”

“Shoot,” said Hill.

(Bernays was no stranger to psychoanalysis. His uncle was Sigmund Freud.)

Brill explained to me: “Some women regard cigarettes as symbols of freedom,” he told me. “Smoking is a sublimation of oral eroticism; holding a cigarette in the mouth excites the oral zone. It is perfectly normal for women to want to smoke cigarettes… But today the emancipation of women has suppressed many of their feminine desires… Feminine traits are masked. Cigarettes, which are equated with men, become torches of freedom.”

“In this last statement I found a way to help break the taboo against women smoking in public. Why not a parade of women lighting torches of freedom – smoking cigarettes?”

Bernays called friends at Vogue magazine to get a list of debutantes. Then he had his secretary, Bertha Hunt, sign and send a personalized telegram to each one. Think direct-messaging; 1930’s style:

“IN THE INTERESTS OF EQUALITY OF THE SEXES AND TO FIGHT ANOTHER SEX TABOO I AND OTHER YOUNG WOMEN WILL LIGHT ANOTHER TORCH OF FREEDOM BY SMOKING CIGARETTES WHILE STROLLING ON FIFTH AVENUE EASTER SUNDAY. WE ARE DOING THIS TO COMBAT THE SILLY PREJUDICE THAT THE CIGARETTE IS SUITABLE FOR THE HOME, THE RESTAURANT, THE TAXICAB, THE THEATER LOBBY, BUT NEVER NO NEVER FOR THE SIDEWALK. WOMEN SMOKERS AND THEIR ESCORTS WILL STROLL FROM FORTY-EIGHTH STREET TO FIFTY-FOURTH STREET ON FIFTH AVENUE BETWEEN ELEVEN-THIRTY AND ONE O’CLOCK.”

It worked. Bernays reported that the event made front-page news in both photos and text and opened editorial debates in the weeks that followed in publications from coast to coast. As evidence of his success he cited newspaper reports in Massachusetts, Michigan, California, and West Virginia that women were smoking on the streets. “Age-old customs, I learned, could be broken down by a dramatic appeal, disseminated by the network of media.”

*While Bernays’ strategy was mostly intuitive and his reasoning was mostly theoretical, the case illustrates the power of public relations tactics as powerful tools for persuasion.*

*Edward Bernays’s “Torches of Freedom”*

Long before carefully orchestrated surprise street events were termed ‘flash mobs,’ Edward Bernays organized the Torches of Freedom event as part of a sophisticated persuasive campaign. How did Bernays link smoking a cigarette with women’s fight for equality?

Instead, the event described was the “Torches of Freedom” march; the ‘influentials’ were New York debutantes; and the site was an Easter parade on Fifth Avenue in New York. The date, however, was 1930 and the man behind the scenes was Edward Bernays. Bernays competes with Ivy Lee for the legacy of being known as the father of public relations.

Bernays coordinated the Torches of Freedom event on behalf of his client George Washington Hill, president of the American Tobacco Company. Here is how Bernays recalls the project in his memoir Biography of an Idea:

“Hill called me in. “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!”

“There’s a taboo against such smoking,” I said. “Let me consult an expert, Dr. A.A. Brill, the psychoanalyst. He might give me the psychological basis for a woman’s desire to smoke, and maybe this will help me.”

“What will it cost?”

“I suppose just a consultation fee.”

“Shoot,” said Hill.

(Bernays was no stranger to psychoanalysis. His uncle was Sigmund Freud.)

Brill explained to me: “Some women regard cigarettes as symbols of freedom,” he told me. “Smoking is a sublimation of oral eroticism; holding a cigarette in the mouth excites the oral zone. It is perfectly normal for women to want to smoke cigarettes… But today the emancipation of women has suppressed many of their feminine desires… Feminine traits are masked. Cigarettes, which are equated with men, become torches of freedom.”

“In this last statement I found a way to help break the taboo against women smoking in public. Why not a parade of women lighting torches of freedom – smoking cigarettes?”

Bernays called friends at Vogue magazine to get a list of debutantes. Then he had his secretary, Bertha Hunt, sign and send a personalized telegram to each one. Think direct-messaging; 1930’s style:

“IN THE INTERESTS OF EQUALITY OF THE SEXES AND TO FIGHT ANOTHER SEX TABOO I AND OTHER YOUNG WOMEN WILL LIGHT ANOTHER TORCH OF FREEDOM BY SMOKING CIGARETTES WHILE STROLLING ON FIFTH AVENUE EASTER SUNDAY. WE ARE DOING THIS TO COMBAT THE SILLY PREJUDICE THAT THE CIGARETTE IS SUITABLE FOR THE HOME, THE RESTAURANT, THE TAXICAB, THE THEATER LOBBY, BUT NEVER NO NEVER FOR THE SIDEWALK. WOMEN SMOKERS AND THEIR ESCORTS WILL STROLL FROM FORTY-EIGHTH STREET TO FIFTY-FOURTH STREET ON FIFTH AVENUE BETWEEN ELEVEN-THIRTY AND ONE O’CLOCK.”

It worked. Bernays reported that the event made front-page news in both photos and text and opened editorial debates in the weeks that followed in publications from coast to coast. As evidence of his success he cited newspaper reports in Massachusetts, Michigan, California, and West Virginia that women were smoking on the streets. “Age-old customs, I learned, could be broken down by a dramatic appeal, disseminated by the network of media.”

*While Bernays’ strategy was mostly intuitive and his reasoning was mostly theoretical, the case illustrates the power of public relations tactics as powerful tools for persuasion.*

*Edward Bernays’s “Torches of Freedom”*

Long before carefully orchestrated surprise street events were termed ‘flash mobs,’ Edward Bernays organized the Torches of Freedom event as part of a sophisticated persuasive campaign. How did Bernays link smoking a cigarette with women’s fight for equality?

Instead, the event described was the “Torches of Freedom” march; the ‘influentials’ were New York debutantes; and the site was an Easter parade on Fifth Avenue in New York. The date, however, was 1930 and the man behind the scenes was Edward Bernays. Bernays competes with Ivy Lee for the legacy of being known as the father of public relations.

Bernays coordinated the Torches of Freedom event on behalf of his client George Washington Hill, president of the American Tobacco Company. Here is how Bernays recalls the project in his memoir Biography of an Idea:

“Hill called me in. “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!”

“There’s a taboo against such smoking,” I said. “Let me consult an expert, Dr. A.A. Brill, the psychoanalyst. He might give me the psychological basis for a woman’s desire to smoke, and maybe this will help me.”

“What will it cost?”

“I suppose just a consultation fee.”

“Shoot,” said Hill.

(Bernays was no stranger to psychoanalysis. His uncle was Sigmund Freud.)

Brill explained to me: “Some women regard cigarettes as symbols of freedom,” he told me. “Smoking is a sublimation of oral eroticism; holding a cigarette in the mouth excites the oral zone. It is perfectly normal for women to want to smoke cigarettes… But today the emancipation of women has suppressed many of their feminine desires… Feminine traits are masked. Cigarettes, which are equated with men, become torches of freedom.”

“In this last statement I found a way to help break the taboo against women smoking in public. Why not a parade of women lighting torches of freedom – smoking cigarettes?”

Bernays called friends at Vogue magazine to get a list of debutantes. Then he had his secretary, Bertha Hunt, sign and send a personalized telegram to each one. Think direct-messaging; 1930’s style:

“IN THE INTERESTS OF EQUALITY OF THE SEXES AND TO FIGHT ANOTHER SEX TABOO I AND OTHER YOUNG WOMEN WILL LIGHT ANOTHER TORCH OF FREEDOM BY SMOKING CIGARETTES WHILE STROLLING ON FIFTH AVENUE EASTER SUNDAY. WE ARE DOING THIS TO COMBAT THE SILLY PREJUDICE THAT THE CIGARETTE IS SUITABLE FOR THE HOME, THE RESTAURANT, THE TAXICAB, THE THEATER LOBBY, BUT NEVER NO NEVER FOR THE SIDEWALK. WOMEN SMOKERS AND THEIR ESCORTS WILL STROLL FROM FORTY-EIGHTH STREET TO FIFTY-FOURTH STREET ON FIFTH AVENUE BETWEEN ELEVEN-THIRTY AND ONE O’CLOCK.”

It worked. Bernays reported that the event made front-page news in both photos and text and opened editorial debates in the weeks that followed in publications from coast to coast. As evidence of his success he cited newspaper reports in Massachusetts, Michigan, California, and West Virginia that women were smoking on the streets. “Age-old customs, I learned, could be broken down by a dramatic appeal, disseminated by the network of media.”

*While Bernays’ strategy was mostly intuitive and his reasoning was mostly theoretical, the case illustrates the power of public relations tactics as powerful tools for persuasion.*

*Edward Bernays’s “Torches of Freedom”*

Long before carefully orchestrated surprise street events were termed ‘flash mobs,’ Edward Bernays organized the Torches of Freedom event as part of a sophisticated persuasive campaign. How did Bernays link smoking a cigarette with women’s fight for equality?

Instead, the event described was the “Torches of Freedom” march; the ‘influentials’ were New York debutantes; and the site was an Easter parade on Fifth Avenue in New York. The date, however, was 1930 and the man behind the scenes was Edward Bernays. Bernays competes with Ivy Lee for the legacy of being known as the father of public relations.

Bernays coordinated the Torches of Freedom event on behalf of his client George Washington Hill, president of the American Tobacco Company. Here is how Bernays recalls the project in his memoir Biography of an Idea:

“Hill called me in. “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!”

“There’s a taboo against such smoking,” I said. “Let me consult an expert, Dr. A.A. Brill, the psychoanalyst. He might give me the psychological basis for a woman’s desire to smoke, and maybe this will help me.”

“What will it cost?”

“I suppose just a consultation fee.”

“Shoot,” said Hill.

(Bernays was no stranger to psychoanalysis. His uncle was Sigmund Freud.)

Brill explained to me: “Some women regard cigarettes as symbols of freedom,” he told me. “Smoking is a sublimation of oral eroticism; holding a cigarette in the mouth excites the oral zone. It is perfectly normal for women to want to smoke cigarettes… But today the emancipation of women has suppressed many of their feminine desires… Feminine traits are masked. Cigarettes, which are equated with men, become torches of freedom.”

“In this last statement I found a way to help break the taboo against women smoking in public. Why not a parade of women lighting torches of freedom – smoking cigarettes?”

Bernays called friends at Vogue magazine to get a list of debutantes. Then he had his secretary, Bertha Hunt, sign and send a personalized telegram to each one. Think direct-messaging; 1930’s style:

“IN THE INTERESTS OF EQUALITY OF THE SEXES AND TO FIGHT ANOTHER SEX TABOO I AND OTHER YOUNG WOMEN WILL LIGHT ANOTHER TORCH OF FREEDOM BY SMOKING CIGARETTES WHILE STROLLING ON FIFTH AVENUE EASTER SUNDAY. WE ARE DOING THIS TO COMBAT THE SILLY PREJUDICE THAT THE CIGARETTE IS SUITABLE FOR THE HOME, THE RESTAURANT, THE TAXICAB, THE THEATER LOBBY, BUT NEVER NO NEVER FOR THE SIDEWALK. WOMEN SMOKERS AND THEIR ESCORTS WILL STROLL FROM FORTY-EIGHTH STREET TO FIFTY-FOURTH STREET ON FIFTH AVENUE BETWEEN ELEVEN-THIRTY AND ONE O’CLOCK.”

It worked. Bernays reported that the event made front-page news in both photos and text and opened editorial debates in the weeks that followed in publications from coast to coast. As evidence of his success he cited newspaper reports in Massachusetts, Michigan, California, and West Virginia that women were smoking on the streets. “Age-old customs, I learned, could be broken down by a dramatic appeal, disseminated by the network of media.”

*While Bernays’ strategy was mostly intuitive and his reasoning was mostly theoretical, the case illustrates the power of public relations tactics as powerful tools for persuasion.*

*Edward Bernays’s “Torches of Freedom”*

Long before carefully orchestrated surprise street events were termed ‘flash mobs,’ Edward Bernays organized the Torches of Freedom event as part of a sophisticated persuasive campaign. How did Bernays link smoking a cigarette with women’s fight for equality?

Instead, the event described was the “Torches of Freedom” march; the ‘influentials’ were New York debutantes; and the site was an Easter parade on Fifth Avenue in New York. The date, however, was 1930 and the man behind the scenes was Edward Bernays. Bernays competes with Ivy Lee for the legacy of being known as the father of public relations.

Bernays coordinated the Torches of Freedom event on behalf of his client George Washington Hill, president of the American Tobacco Company. Here is how Bernays recalls the project in his memoir Biography of an Idea:

“Hill called me in. “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!”

“There’s a taboo against such smoking,” I said. “Let me consult an expert, Dr. A.A. Brill, the psychoanalyst. He might give me the psychological basis for a woman’s desire to smoke, and maybe this will help me.”

“What will it cost?”

“I suppose just a consultation fee.”

“Shoot,” said Hill.

(Bernays was no stranger to psychoanalysis. His uncle was Sigmund Freud.)

Brill explained to me: “Some women regard cigarettes as symbols of freedom,” he told me. “Smoking is a sublimation of oral eroticism; holding a cigarette in the mouth excites the oral zone. It is perfectly normal for women to want to smoke cigarettes… But today the emancipation of women has suppressed many of their feminine desires… Feminine traits are masked. Cigarettes, which are equated with men, become torches of freedom.”

“In this last statement I found a way to help break the taboo against women smoking in public. Why not a parade of women lighting torches of freedom – smoking cigarettes?”

Bernays called friends at Vogue magazine to get a list of debutantes. Then he had his secretary, Bertha Hunt, sign and send a personalized telegram to each one. Think direct-messaging; 1930’s style:

“IN THE INTERESTS OF EQUALITY OF THE SEXES AND TO FIGHT ANOTHER SEX TABOO I AND OTHER YOUNG WOMEN WILL LIGHT ANOTHER TORCH OF FREEDOM BY SMOKING CIGARETTES WHILE STROLLING ON FIFTH AVENUE EASTER SUNDAY. WE ARE DOING THIS TO COMBAT THE SILLY PREJUDICE THAT THE CIGARETTE IS SUITABLE FOR THE HOME, THE RESTAURANT, THE TAXICAB, THE THEATER LOBBY, BUT NEVER NO NEVER FOR THE SIDEWALK. WOMEN SMOKERS AND THEIR ESCORTS WILL STROLL FROM FORTY-EIGHTH STREET TO FIFTY-FOURTH STREET ON FIFTH AVENUE BETWEEN ELEVEN-THIRTY AND ONE O’CLOCK.”

It worked. Bernays reported that the event made front-page news in both photos and text and opened editorial debates in the weeks that followed in publications from coast to coast. As evidence of his success he cited newspaper reports in Massachusetts, Michigan, California, and West Virginia that women were smoking on the streets. “Age-old customs, I learned, could be broken down by a dramatic appeal, disseminated by the network of media.”

*While Bernays’ strategy was mostly intuitive and his reasoning was mostly theoretical, the case illustrates the power of public relations tactics as powerful tools for persuasion.*

*Edward Bernays’s “Torches of Freedom”*

Long before carefully orchestrated surprise street events were termed ‘flash mobs,’ Edward Bernays organized the Torches of Freedom event as part of a sophisticated persuasive campaign. How did Bernays link smoking a cigarette with women’s fight for equality?

Instead, the event described was the “Torches of Freedom” march; the ‘influentials’ were New York debutantes; and the site was an Easter parade on Fifth Avenue in New York. The date, however, was 1930 and the man behind the scenes was Edward Bernays. Bernays competes with Ivy Lee for the legacy of being known as the father of public relations.

Bernays coordinated the Torches of Freedom event on behalf of his client George Washington Hill, president of the American Tobacco Company. Here is how Bernays recalls the project in his memoir Biography of an Idea:

“Hill called me in. “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!”

“There’s a taboo against such smoking,” I said. “Let me consult an expert, Dr. A.A. Brill, the psychoanalyst. He might give me the psychological basis for a woman’s desire to smoke, and maybe this will help me.”

“What will it cost?”

“I suppose just a consultation fee.”

“Shoot,” said Hill.

(Bernays was no stranger to psychoanalysis. His uncle was Sigmund Freud.)

Brill explained to me: “Some women regard cigarettes as symbols of freedom,” he told me. “Smoking is a sublimation of oral eroticism; holding a cigarette in the mouth excites the oral zone. It is perfectly normal for women to want to smoke cigarettes… But today the emancipation of women has suppressed many of their feminine desires… Feminine traits are masked. Cigarettes, which are equated with men, become torches of freedom.”

“In this last statement I found a way to help break the taboo against women smoking in public. Why not a parade of women lighting torches of freedom – smoking cigarettes?”

Bernays called friends at Vogue magazine to get a list of debutantes. Then he had his secretary, Bertha Hunt, sign and send a personalized telegram to each one. Think direct-messaging; 1930’s style:

“IN THE INTERESTS OF EQUALITY OF THE SEXES AND TO FIGHT ANOTHER SEX TABOO I AND OTHER YOUNG WOMEN WILL LIGHT ANOTHER TORCH OF FREEDOM BY SMOKING CIGARETTES WHILE STROLLING ON FIFTH AVENUE EASTER SUNDAY. WE ARE DOING THIS TO COMBAT THE SILLY PREJUDICE THAT THE CIGARETTE IS SUITABLE FOR THE HOME, THE RESTAURANT, THE TAXICAB, THE THEATER LOBBY, BUT NEVER NO NEVER FOR THE SIDEWALK. WOMEN SMOKERS AND THEIR ESCORTS WILL STROLL FROM FORTY-EIGHTH STREET TO FIFTY-FOURTH STREET ON FIFTH AVENUE BETWEEN ELEVEN-THIRTY AND ONE O’CLOCK.”

It worked. Bernays reported that the event made front-page news in both photos and text and opened editorial debates in the weeks that followed in publications from coast to coast. As evidence of his success he cited newspaper reports in Massachusetts, Michigan, California, and West Virginia that women were smoking on the streets. “Age-old customs, I learned, could be broken down by a dramatic appeal, disseminated by the network of media.”

*While Bernays’ strategy was mostly intuitive and his reasoning was mostly theoretical, the case illustrates the power of public relations tactics as powerful tools for persuasion.*

As Nelson Mandela said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” 

Education is the key to eliminating gender inequality, to reducing poverty, to creating a sustainable planet, to preventing needless deaths and illness, and to fostering peace in our world.

As Nelson Mandela said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” 

Education is the key to eliminating gender inequality, to reducing poverty, to creating a sustainable planet, to preventing needless deaths and illness, and to fostering peace in our world.

As Nelson Mandela said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” 

Education is the key to eliminating gender inequality, to reducing poverty, to creating a sustainable planet, to preventing needless deaths and illness, and to fostering peace in our world.

As Nelson Mandela said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” 

Education is the key to eliminating gender inequality, to reducing poverty, to creating a sustainable planet, to preventing needless deaths and illness, and to fostering peace in our world.

As Nelson Mandela said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” 

Education is the key to eliminating gender inequality, to reducing poverty, to creating a sustainable planet, to preventing needless deaths and illness, and to fostering peace in our world.

As Nelson Mandela said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” 

Education is the key to eliminating gender inequality, to reducing poverty, to creating a sustainable planet, to preventing needless deaths and illness, and to fostering peace in our world.

As Nelson Mandela said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” 

Education is the key to eliminating gender inequality, to reducing poverty, to creating a sustainable planet, to preventing needless deaths and illness, and to fostering peace in our world.

As Nelson Mandela said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” 

Education is the key to eliminating gender inequality, to reducing poverty, to creating a sustainable planet, to preventing needless deaths and illness, and to fostering peace in our world.

As Nelson Mandela said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” 

Education is the key to eliminating gender inequality, to reducing poverty, to creating a sustainable planet, to preventing needless deaths and illness, and to fostering peace in our world.

As Nelson Mandela said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” 

Education is the key to eliminating gender inequality, to reducing poverty, to creating a sustainable planet, to preventing needless deaths and illness, and to fostering peace in our world.

As Nelson Mandela said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” 

Education is the key to eliminating gender inequality, to reducing poverty, to creating a sustainable planet, to preventing needless deaths and illness, and to fostering peace in our world.

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*From the forest mountains of Taraba State, Nigeria*

#3,500 per litre

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*From the forest mountains of Taraba State, Nigeria*

#3,500 per litre

UNFILTERED RAW HONEY FOR SOUND HEALTH, BEAUTIFUL SKIN & GREAT HAIR

*From the forest mountains of Taraba State, Nigeria*

#3,500 per litre