The Development of Public Relations
Public relations have come a long way in 50 B.C. Julius Caesar publishes an autobiography as political aspirations. Caesar criticizes the military and tried to convince the Romans he would be the most effective head of the state. The title of this article was known as “The Gallic Wars.” Similarly candidates today use the same exploitation of military to their favor in campaigning.
Moving forward to 394 A.D. St. Augustine acted as the PR director. He delivered eulogies to the emperor, and was a minister for propaganda. He was one of the first people in charge of public relations. The modern day equivalent is the Secretary to the press.
In the 1700’s Thomas Paine published The American Crisis, to encourage war on the British. The soldiers in Washington’s army wanted to flee from the British, yet Thomas Paine convinced them to stay.
Benjamin Franklin utilizes the printing press to fight slavery in 1780. William Seward acting as the Secretary of State in 1861 began using the press to sway public opinions.
Around 1880 PT Barnum masters the art of capturing public attention using graphics. In the 1900’s, Rockefeller uses public relations to transform his public image. And President Wilson announced Independence on Czechoslovakia on a Monday to maximize media coverage.
In the 1930’s the Weiner mobile rolled out as a form of rolling advertisement. It successfully raised the business for Oscar Mayer. The Weiner mobile is 55 hot dogs long and 25 hot dogs high. It travels 365 days a year to cities nationwide.
1938 rolled out De Beers creating a link between Diamonds and Love. Movie stars began wearing large diamonds to show off, using the catch line; Diamonds are a girl’s best friend. The 1950’s used PR to come up with the top ten most wanted lists. Since the launch of the most wanted list 469 out of 498 have been captured.
2001 the media reported the crash landing of the space station and free Taco Bell tacos. A huge bull’s eye was rolled into the middle of the ocean. They promised if the space station hit the target, free tacos! Although it came down it did not hit the target.
2012 the movie The Dictator rolled out. It talked mostly about journalist taking bribes.
And the newest, Oreo Cookie used the Super bowl blackout to make it into an Oreo cookie break. The blackout launched a tweet that you can still dunk in the dark.
All in all public relations job is to influence people. The media, television, and reporters play to the community in any way that they can and business take full advantage and reap the rewards of exploitation.
Social media like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram only fuel the media frenzy and exploitation of getting information out.
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