1932	GENERAL MOTORS: Value and Sales Appeal Selling cars during the depression was a real challenge. GM's net sales dropped 46.6% in 1932, and they were looking to improve the numbers. GM hired Bernays to promote their cars at the annual automobile show in New York one month later. Bernays quickly defined his tactics and objectives: "use the show to attract liberal spenders to promote the new line of cars, placing 40%...emphasis on the sales appeal of a window innovation preventing drafts and 35% on more value for less money." (continued)
		1934	THE "GREEN BALL" Unable to convince American Tobacco to change Lucky Strike's green package to a neutral color, Bernays recommends the company "change the color of fashion." Keystone of the "Green Ball" campaign gala at The Waldorf-Astoria, a charity event at which wearing a green gown is required.
		1939	PHILCO RADIO AND TELEVISION   First showing of Philco television to the press. Radio did not always appeal to the masses. Introduced during the depression, radio use was rapidly expanding among the lower classes, with the more affluent and educated people believing that radio was a toy for the poor. This way of thinking created problems for radio retailers who were forced to sell their radios at lower prices in order to sell them at all. James M. Skinner, president of Philco Radio, hired Bernays to devise a plan which would increase radio sales and expand the audience. Appealing to a more affluent audience would allow the company to raise their prices and increase their profits. (continued)
			EDWARD L. BERNAYS - A RETROSPECTIVE 1915-1922 / 1923-1928 / 1929-1931 / 1932-1939 / 1940-1960 Return to Museum Entrance © 1997 Spector & Associates