Salvador Dalí’s legacy in the history of public relations: A psychoanalytic and surrealist connection with Edward Bernays

Abstract

This article highlights the importance of Salvador Dalí as a pioneer in the history of public relations (PR). The Catalan painter displayed intense PR and publicity activity in a number of venues, such as media relations, events and performances, creation of content in fashion magazines, movies, TV and collaborations with a variety of industries, which helped him to build a global reputation and reach the status of star in the popular culture arena. The piece also explores the parallelisms between Dalí and Edward Bernays. They both captured the spirit of their times and used communication similarly and during the same period. The use of psychoanalysis for their work was an aspect in common that helped to establish parallelisms between both and even conclude there is a surrealistic element in PR practice that is often overlooked.