Surreptitious advertising refers to secretive communication practices that might mislead the public about products or services. According to the Television Without Frontiers (TWF) Directive from the EU, misleading representations of products are considered intentional "in particular if it is done in return for payment or for similar consideration".

History

Edward Bernays Edward Louis Bernays ( ; ; November 22, 1891 − March 9, 1995) was an American pioneer in the field of public relations and propaganda, referred to in his obituary as "the father of public relations". While credited with advancing the profession ...

resorted to surreptitious advertising for the

American Tobacco Company The American Tobacco Company was a tobacco company founded in 1890 by J. B. Duke through a merger between a number of U.S. tobacco manufacturers including Allen and Ginter, Goodwin & Company, and Kinney Brothers. The company was one of the or ...

back in the 1920s: women, he discovered, regarded cigarettes in the 1920s as

phallic symbol A phallus (: phalli or phalluses) is a penis (especially when erect), an object that resembles a penis, or a mimetic image of an erect penis. In art history, a figure with an erect penis is described as ''ithyphallic''. Any object that symbo ...

s of male power and therefore unsuitable for women. Bernays tried to make smoking attractive to women for ATC. He employed a group of women and asked them to dress up like

suffragettes A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for women's suffrage, the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in part ...

and go on strike. The women marched through New York's

Fifth Avenue Fifth Avenue is a major thoroughfare in the borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan in New York City. The avenue runs south from 143rd Street (Manhattan), West 143rd Street in Harlem to Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village. The se ...

, and when newspaper reporters photographed them, they lit cigarettes and proclaimed them "torches of freedom".

References

Advertising {{advertising-stub