Episode 47 • • 46:59 - 53:42
47: Data Centers, Disciples and Discernment
Edward Bernays and the Torches of Freedom Campaign
Edward Bernays, the nephew of Sigmund Freud, revolutionized marketing by using psychoanalysis to manipulate public behavior. In 1929, he staged the "Torches of Freedom" event at the New York Easter Day parade, hiring debutantes to smoke in public to frame cigarettes as symbols of women's liberation. This campaign successfully broke the social taboo against women smoking and remains a foundational example of modern propaganda.