The Hype Handbook: 12 Indispensable Success Secrets From the World’s Greatest Propagandists, Self-Promoters, Cult Leaders, Mischief Makers, and Boundary Breakers

HYPE STRATEGY #2

CREATE YOUR OWN SECRET SOCIETY

(the Piggybacking Principle)

The orator does not require to convert to his views all the members of a jury, but only the leading spirits among it who will determine the general opinion. As in all crowds, so in juries there are a small number of individuals who serve as guides to the rest.

—GUSTAVE LE BON

While a plate of bacon and eggs is seen today as the quintessential American breakfast, this wasn’t always the case. In fact, as recently as the early 1920s, most people in the United States kept their first meals of the day light. It wasn’t until Edward Bernays set up shop as the original public relations professional that this all changed.

As nephew of psychiatrist Sigmund Freud, Edward Bernays ...