Media, Information and Technoculture 2151A/B Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Edward Bernays, American Tobacco Company, Unconscious Mind

• School: Western University
• Department: Media, Information and Technoculture
• Course: Media, Information and Technoculture 2151A/B
• Professor: Selma Purac

Document Summary

Advertising is hierarchical: those in power to create vs those who consume. The happiness machine: consumption is freedom from fear, if you can keep people happy, you can keep them buying. The mind is built in layers: id. Part of the unconscious mind (cid:494)) want what ) want and ) want it now(cid:495) Mediator between the two: ego, superego. The point at which they meet is submerged: we are unaware that anything is happening. Destabilized the belief in a civilized human nature: the lack of morality and control under ww1 proved for many that we are animals, because we could release those destructive forces of the id. The fact that there is a split between a conscious mind and demanding id became central to marketing. He is largely responsible for the creation of consumer society in na as we know it today.