COMM 406: The Century Of Self

Edward Bernays was influential to the idea that Americans are now essentially consumers, and no longer citizens. He wanted to find a way to sell to the people in large cities that came about in the turn of the century. To accomplish this, he looked to the work of his uncle, Sigmund Freud. Freud's work concerned the idea of humans having hidden, irrational desires. Bernays decided that he could profit off of people's irrational desires. The film The Century Of Self articulates that there is more to our purchasing decisions than information.

The idea of selling things with information was a longstanding one. Items would be marketed on necessity, on facts as to how they will improve one's life practically. This changed with Bernays. He was the first to theorize that we should sell products based on irrational desires, and it worked.

Today we purchase Apple computers because they make us look innovative and young. We purchase Lucky Jeans because Oprah once told us they would make us sexy. We buy things to satisfy an irrational faith in image over substance. Is there a practical benefit to a Mac over an HP PC? In most cases, no (Final Cut Pro being the notable exception). We buy Mac because we want to be as Mac users are. Do Lucky Jeans offer any benefit? They fit inconsistently, are pre-shrunk, and tear easily, but we buy them at a higher price than superiorly made Levi jeans because we want to be seen as the type that wears Lucky Brand. What about Beats headphones? Tests have proven them to be lower quality than Sony headphones that sell for 150 dollars less, and yet we buy them for the idea that we can be like Dr. Dre. We want to be something bigger than ourselves, not for the value of self-improvement, but because it might chance to impress others.

That's essentially what Bernays theorized. He thought that we would want something for irrational reasons, and today, rationality seldom comes into play in purchases.