The current world political situation is offering so many news, that it almost seems that “too many” adequate topics have come to my mind. Bush spoke to the UN and made it clear that the UN would become irrelevant in case of an opposition against the Iraq War; just by coincidence or deliberately or however they got some members of Al-Kaida in the week of the anniversary of “September 11^th”; the German elections will be soon; Chancellor Schröder himself made it clear, that there will be no German participation in the “Adventure Iraq” under his leadership (by accident? – well, we will see) – and summer seems to be gone now.  

But back to the „Case of Mr. Bernays”:
He lived to the age of 104 though and sly dog Bernays had a lot of “clever” ideas to influence the public in case of conflicts or scruples regarding certain products or ideas:
“Bernays learned early on that the most effective way to create credibility for a product or an image was by "independent third-party" endorsement. For example, if General Motors were to come out and say that global warming is a hoax thought up by some liberal tree-huggers, people would suspect GM's motives, since GM's fortune is made by selling automobiles. If however some independent research institute with a very credible sounding name like the Global Climate Coalition comes out with a scientific report that says global warming is really a fiction, people begin to get confused and to have doubts about the original issue.
So that's exactly what Bernays did. With a policy inspired by genius, he set up "more institutes and foundations than Rockefeller and Carnegie combined." (Stauber p 45)
Quietly financed by the industries whose products were being evaluated, these "independent" research agencies would churn out "scientific" studies and press materials that could create any image their handlers wanted.” (http://www.thedoctorwithin.com/articles/doors_of_perception.html)  

Hence institutions like ”Temperature Research Foundation“, “Consumer Alert”, “Air Hygiene Foundation” or “Alliance for Better Foods” – to name just some of them –  were created.
“Who do you think funds the International Food Information Council? Take a wild guess. Right - Monsanto, DuPont, Frito-Lay, Coca Cola, Nutrasweet - those in a position to make fortunes from GM [gene-manipulated] foods. (Stauber p 20)”

The above mentioned article discloses in a serious, but still jocular way (buzzword: “Humour is if you still can laugh.”) how PR industry works:
“As the science of mass control evolved, PR firms developed further guidelines for effective copy. Here are some of the gems:

• dehumanize the attacked party by labeling and name calling
• speak in glittering generalities using emotionally positive words
• when covering something up, don't use plain English; stall for time; distract
• get endorsements from celebrities, churches, sports figures, street people - anyone who has no expertise in the subject at hand
• the 'plain folks' ruse: us billionaires are just like you
• when minimizing outrage, don't say anything memorable
• when minimizing outrage, point out the benefits of what just happened
• when minimizing outrage, avoid moral issues

Keep this list. Start watching for these techniques. Not hard to find - look at today's paper or tonight's TV news. See what they're doing; these guys are good!”  

Does anyone know any of the really big PR agencies? Have you ever heard the names Burson-Marsteller, Edelman, Hill & Knowlton, Kamer-Singer, Ketchum, Mongovin & Biscoe & Duchin, BSMG or Ruder-Finn? Why does no-one know any of these firms? The reason is as banal as evident: the simple recipe of good PR is „Best PR goes unnoticed!“
Keep these names in mind – I will continue with them next time.

At the end of this e-mail I would like to include a “practical example” which we are indebted to a person whom I have already dedicated two “Hint”-e-mails: Edward L. Bernays. As I already mentioned in the last e-mail, he refused to work together with the Nazis directly. On the one hand that may have contradicted with his humane attitude to bring something beneficial to human mankind. On the other hand it seems much more probable that he just followed the principle of good PR „Best PR goes unnoticed!“ and therefore he would never have dirtied his own hands, would he? In a book review of Larry Tye’s „The Father of Spin – Edward L. Bernays & The Birth of Public Relations“ you can find the following lines:
“Bernays liked to cultivate an image as a supporter of feminism and other liberating ideas, but his work on behalf of the United Fruit Company had consequences just as evil and terrifying as if he'd worked directly for the Nazis. The Father of Spin sheds new and important light on the extent to which the Bernays' propaganda campaign for the United Fruit Company (today's United Brands) led directly to the CIA's overthrow of the elected government of Guatemala.
The term "banana republic" actually originated in reference to United Fruit's domination of corrupt governments in Guatemala and other Central American countries. The company brutally exploited virtual slave labor in order to produce cheap bananas for the lucrative U.S. market. When a mildly reformist Guatemala government attempted to reign in the company's power, Bernays whipped up media and political sentiment against it in the commie-crazed 1950s.” (http://www.prwatch.org/prwissues/1999Q2/bernays.html)  

The article continues:
“His efforts led directly to a brutal military coup ... The result, tragically, has meant decades of tyranny under a Guatemalan government whose brutality rivaled the Nazis as it condemned hundreds of thousands of people (mostly members of the country's impoverished Maya Indian majority) to dislocation, torture and death.”

Well, there is blood on the bananas we eat day by day, indeed.

See you next time. Yours, Michael. 

PS: You can also forward this e-mail to people you know – I don’t mind that at all.