As early as 1928, Edward Bernays recognized propaganda as a modern instrument to produce productive ends and "help bring order out of chaos".
Amy Westervelt delves into the history of propaganda to uncover the deceit at the heart of public relations, marketing, advertising, and design in an analysis of the business strategies of oil and gas companies in the podcast, Drilled.
Westervelt pays particular interest to Edward Bernays.
“Sigmund Freud’s nephew, Edward Bernays, coined the term ‘public relations’ when propaganda started to become a negative term. His specialty was using psychological know-how to manipulate the masses and orchestrate cultural shifts in his clients’ favor (clients like Standard Oil, the American Tobacco Company, and General Motors).”