Edward Bernays?? ...& PR today!

The question this week is who Edward Bernays? Has todays PR changed or is it the same template? How did Tylenol use PR to save the company? Before I proceed to answer the blog topic I would like to say that I am excited that we are on Public Relations now because that is my field of study.

Edward Bernays was known as the father of Public Relations and an American pioneer in the field of Public Relation. Bernay was the first to attempt to manipulate public opinion using the subconscious. He felt this manipulation was necessary in society, which he regarded as irrational and dangerous as a result of the 'herd instinct'. Bernays was named one of the 100 most influential Americans of the 20th century by Life Magazine.

Has PR changed or is it the same? For the most part Public Relations is the same with more modern ways added to it. Public Relations is the practice of managing the communication between an organization and its publics. Public relations gains an organization or individual exposure to their audience using topic of public interest and news items that do not require direct payment. Traditional media publications are laying off journalist, consolidating beat reporters, shrinking their print editions, and many publications are shutting down entirely. It has been said that blogs are increasingly sprouting to replace traditional media with a more sustainable low-cost business model and are gaining more of a following. Blogs have a lower over-head costs than traditional media and are often said to provide better news coverage and analysis. The article link will provide those who do not know what PR is with more information.

"The Tylenol Crisis" is when Tylenol had several cases of people dying after they took Tylenol. Each Extra-Strength Tylenol capsule in question were each found to contain 65 milligrams of cyanide. The publicity about the capsules immediately caused a nationwide panic. After this crisis, Johnson & Johnson was faced with quite a dilemma. They needed to find the best way to deal with the tamperings, without destroying the reputation of their company and their most profitable product, Tylenol. Many marketing experts thought that Tylenol was doomed by doubts that the public may have had to whether or not the product was safe. "I don't think they can ever sell another product under that name," advertising genius Jerry Della Femina told the New York Times in the first days following the crisis. "There may be an advertising person who thinks he can solve this and if they find him, I want to hire him, because then I want him to turn our water cooler into a wine cooler'' said Knight. The public relations decisions made as a result of the Tylenol crisis, arrived in two phases. The first phase was the actual handling of the crisis. The comeback of both Johnson & Johnson and Tylenol, was the second phase in the public relations plan. The planning for phase two began almost as soon as phase one was being implemented. The company immediately alerted consumers across the nation, via the media, not to consume any type of Tylenol product. They told consumers not to resume using the product until the extent of the tampering could be determined. Johnson & Johnson, along with stopping the production and advertising of Tylenol, recalled all Tylenol capsules from the market. The recall included approximately 31 million bottles of Tylenol, with a retail value of more than 100 million dollars. The rest of the information can be found in this link: "The Tylenol Crisis".