1 00:00:13,480 --> 00:00:17,120 Speaker 1: This is a newsreel from the Associated Press in Germany 2 00:00:17,480 --> 00:00:20,119 Speaker 1: April sixth, nineteen thirty three. 3 00:00:20,680 --> 00:00:22,400 Speaker 2: The headline is boycott of. 4 00:00:22,400 --> 00:00:26,279 Speaker 1: Jews is enforced by Nazis. That same month in the 5 00:00:26,400 --> 00:00:30,560 Speaker 1: US and the UK, and anti Nazi boycott began discouraging 6 00:00:30,600 --> 00:00:34,919 Speaker 1: people from buying German products. Hitler was Chancellor and had 7 00:00:34,960 --> 00:00:38,600 Speaker 1: been building his case against Jews and Communists for months, 8 00:00:39,000 --> 00:00:42,599 Speaker 1: calling them the quote enemies from within who had caused 9 00:00:42,720 --> 00:00:46,600 Speaker 1: Germany devastating losses in World War One. Later that year, 10 00:00:46,720 --> 00:00:50,919 Speaker 1: IG Farben, the largest chemical company in Germany, gave its 11 00:00:50,960 --> 00:00:55,920 Speaker 1: American publicist a massive new contract. That man was Standard 12 00:00:55,920 --> 00:00:59,400 Speaker 1: Oil pr Guy Ivy Lee. He had been working for 13 00:00:59,480 --> 00:01:02,640 Speaker 1: Farben in the US for about four thousand dollars a 14 00:01:02,720 --> 00:01:06,760 Speaker 1: year since nineteen twenty nine. In nineteen thirty three, the 15 00:01:06,840 --> 00:01:10,039 Speaker 1: German parent company offered him twenty five thousand dollars a 16 00:01:10,120 --> 00:01:13,319 Speaker 1: year and his son thirty three thousand dollars a year 17 00:01:13,360 --> 00:01:17,760 Speaker 1: for advice. Standard Oil was also working with Farbin. By 18 00:01:17,840 --> 00:01:20,479 Speaker 1: this point they had formed a joint venture to work 19 00:01:20,480 --> 00:01:24,600 Speaker 1: on petrochemicals and synthetic fuels. They'd seen what Lee had 20 00:01:24,640 --> 00:01:28,039 Speaker 1: done for Standard Oil, and the Rockefellers and with the 21 00:01:28,080 --> 00:01:32,280 Speaker 1: boycotts and growing anti German sentiment in the US, Farbin 22 00:01:32,480 --> 00:01:36,119 Speaker 1: wanted Lee's help, and the reason for the big rays 23 00:01:36,160 --> 00:01:41,240 Speaker 1: soon became clear. He wasn't just advising a German chemical company. 24 00:01:41,600 --> 00:01:51,040 Speaker 1: He was advising the Third Reich. Now, as far as 25 00:01:51,080 --> 00:01:54,800 Speaker 1: we can tell from various available documents, the point was 26 00:01:54,920 --> 00:01:58,120 Speaker 1: not to sell the Nazi regime and its ideas to 27 00:01:58,200 --> 00:02:01,760 Speaker 1: America as is, but for Lee to convince the Nazi 28 00:02:01,800 --> 00:02:07,240 Speaker 1: leadership to tone down the rhetoric, to shift some of 29 00:02:07,280 --> 00:02:11,840 Speaker 1: their thinking make themselves more palatable to Americans. One of 30 00:02:11,880 --> 00:02:14,480 Speaker 1: the big things that Lee was focused on initially was 31 00:02:14,520 --> 00:02:17,440 Speaker 1: getting them to drop the idea of kicking the foreign 32 00:02:17,520 --> 00:02:20,919 Speaker 1: press out of Germany, because that idea had been floated 33 00:02:20,960 --> 00:02:23,120 Speaker 1: at the time and it was something Lee thought of 34 00:02:23,280 --> 00:02:28,200 Speaker 1: as a clear indication of fascism. In January nineteen thirty four, 35 00:02:28,600 --> 00:02:31,760 Speaker 1: Lee takes meetings with Hitler and also with his Minister 36 00:02:31,800 --> 00:02:36,160 Speaker 1: of Propaganda, Joseph Gibbels, and offers them some advice to 37 00:02:36,280 --> 00:02:40,200 Speaker 1: get along better with Americans. Lee suggests they stop pushing 38 00:02:40,280 --> 00:02:44,160 Speaker 1: propaganda in the US, and rather than kick out the 39 00:02:44,160 --> 00:02:47,960 Speaker 1: foreign press in Germany, they should befriend them. This advice 40 00:02:48,080 --> 00:02:52,000 Speaker 1: was actually documented a few months later in written testimony 41 00:02:52,160 --> 00:02:56,040 Speaker 1: to the House un American Activities Committee by US Ambassador 42 00:02:56,120 --> 00:02:59,280 Speaker 1: to Berlin William Dodd. Dodd goes on to write about 43 00:02:59,320 --> 00:03:03,080 Speaker 1: a conciliatory speech that Goebbels delivered to diplomats and the 44 00:03:03,120 --> 00:03:06,880 Speaker 1: foreign press, saying, quote, it was plain he was trying 45 00:03:06,919 --> 00:03:10,320 Speaker 1: to apply the advice which Ivy Lee urged upon him 46 00:03:10,440 --> 00:03:13,919 Speaker 1: a month ago. Lee testified about his work in May 47 00:03:14,000 --> 00:03:17,040 Speaker 1: of nineteen thirty four, and it wasn't the first time 48 00:03:17,120 --> 00:03:20,000 Speaker 1: he'd been investigated by the government. Lee's work for the 49 00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:24,800 Speaker 1: Soviet Union had also raised suspicions. He often bragged about 50 00:03:24,800 --> 00:03:28,440 Speaker 1: being responsible for the US resuming trade with Russia after 51 00:03:28,480 --> 00:03:31,960 Speaker 1: the Bolshevik Revolution, a feat he firmly believed was just 52 00:03:32,240 --> 00:03:35,440 Speaker 1: good for business for both countries. He took a similar 53 00:03:35,480 --> 00:03:37,800 Speaker 1: stance on his work with a Third Reich, but the 54 00:03:37,880 --> 00:03:39,880 Speaker 1: press didn't necessarily see. 55 00:03:39,640 --> 00:03:42,320 Speaker 2: It that way. When his testimony was released. 56 00:03:42,000 --> 00:03:45,480 Speaker 1: To the public, reporters grilledily and he did the exact 57 00:03:45,760 --> 00:03:48,560 Speaker 1: opposite thing that he'd always advised his clients to do. 58 00:03:48,800 --> 00:03:52,280 Speaker 1: Instead of talking to the press, he dodged them. By 59 00:03:52,400 --> 00:03:56,360 Speaker 1: August Hitler was not just Chancellor but also President of Germany, 60 00:03:56,600 --> 00:04:00,600 Speaker 1: officially the fearer Ivy. Lee had developed a bri tumor 61 00:04:00,640 --> 00:04:03,560 Speaker 1: by this point. In his last months, he met again 62 00:04:03,640 --> 00:04:06,240 Speaker 1: with Dodd, who wrote about this meeting in his diary. 63 00:04:06,640 --> 00:04:09,840 Speaker 1: He wrote, today the old man looked broken, and in 64 00:04:09,880 --> 00:04:12,360 Speaker 1: spite of talk about his cure, I am sure his 65 00:04:12,480 --> 00:04:15,400 Speaker 1: health is very poor. He has made his millions the 66 00:04:15,480 --> 00:04:18,240 Speaker 1: last twenty years, and now the world knows how it 67 00:04:18,360 --> 00:04:22,200 Speaker 1: was done. Lee died in November nineteen thirty four. He 68 00:04:22,240 --> 00:04:25,240 Speaker 1: couldn't answer any more questions, so the government closed their 69 00:04:25,240 --> 00:04:28,680 Speaker 1: investigation of him, and he wouldn't live to see what 70 00:04:28,839 --> 00:04:32,600 Speaker 1: his last clients would do. So why would the Third 71 00:04:32,640 --> 00:04:38,120 Speaker 1: Reich go looking for a publicist in America? Because in 72 00:04:38,160 --> 00:04:41,520 Speaker 1: just twenty years Lee had turned John D. Rockefeller from 73 00:04:41,560 --> 00:04:44,479 Speaker 1: a man routinely described as the most hated man in 74 00:04:44,520 --> 00:04:49,240 Speaker 1: America into a kindly philanthropist who was widely admired. He 75 00:04:49,320 --> 00:04:51,920 Speaker 1: did that through a combination of tactics that have been 76 00:04:52,000 --> 00:04:55,920 Speaker 1: used by everyone from dictators to CEOs ever since, and 77 00:04:55,920 --> 00:04:58,280 Speaker 1: that are still very much in use by the fossil 78 00:04:58,279 --> 00:05:03,080 Speaker 1: fuel industry today. He created essentially the First Front Group, 79 00:05:03,360 --> 00:05:07,239 Speaker 1: an oil industry organization that allowed individual companies to pool 80 00:05:07,279 --> 00:05:12,400 Speaker 1: resources and vastly expand their reach without anyone really noticing. 81 00:05:12,839 --> 00:05:15,920 Speaker 1: That's the story we're going to dig into in this episode. 82 00:05:16,240 --> 00:05:20,400 Speaker 1: I'm Amy Westervelt, and this is Drilled, Season three, The 83 00:05:20,480 --> 00:05:26,120 Speaker 1: mad Men of Climate Denial. If you haven't listened to 84 00:05:26,200 --> 00:05:28,800 Speaker 1: episode one yet, go back and do that. This season 85 00:05:28,839 --> 00:05:32,479 Speaker 1: we're looking at the history of big Oil's big propaganda 86 00:05:32,520 --> 00:05:36,400 Speaker 1: machine and the specific spin masters who helped create it. 87 00:05:38,760 --> 00:05:40,600 Speaker 1: You met Ivy Lee last time. 88 00:05:40,839 --> 00:05:46,599 Speaker 3: Mister Rockefeller listened to me patiently, pleasantly and calmly until 89 00:05:46,680 --> 00:05:49,640 Speaker 3: I'd finished mile upon presentation of why you should do. 90 00:05:49,839 --> 00:05:52,000 Speaker 1: The thing you need to know about Ivy Lee's first 91 00:05:52,120 --> 00:05:55,160 Speaker 1: years in PR is that he invented some of the 92 00:05:55,160 --> 00:05:58,359 Speaker 1: fundamental techniques that are still in use today. The press 93 00:05:58,400 --> 00:06:01,160 Speaker 1: release and the press conference are the two you probably 94 00:06:01,240 --> 00:06:01,800 Speaker 1: know best. 95 00:06:02,120 --> 00:06:06,599 Speaker 3: In order to fulfill my solemn duty to protect America 96 00:06:06,680 --> 00:06:09,440 Speaker 3: and its citizens, the United States. 97 00:06:09,080 --> 00:06:12,120 Speaker 2: Will withdraw from the Paris. 98 00:06:14,120 --> 00:06:17,800 Speaker 1: Climate A Court. But arguably the most important method Leap 99 00:06:17,800 --> 00:06:22,000 Speaker 1: perfected the foundation of PR was the use of tightly 100 00:06:22,120 --> 00:06:25,960 Speaker 1: controlled language. He believed that words really matter and that 101 00:06:26,120 --> 00:06:29,080 Speaker 1: industry should try to control them. We see this today 102 00:06:29,320 --> 00:06:31,920 Speaker 1: all the time. In the case of climate change, for example, 103 00:06:32,040 --> 00:06:34,599 Speaker 1: the term has shifted over the years, the greenhouse effect, 104 00:06:34,680 --> 00:06:38,800 Speaker 1: global warming, climate change. All of that, the press releases, 105 00:06:38,839 --> 00:06:41,800 Speaker 1: the press conferences, the language, the wordplay. It's all so 106 00:06:42,040 --> 00:06:44,640 Speaker 1: common now that it's hard to even imagine a time 107 00:06:44,720 --> 00:06:48,080 Speaker 1: before those things existed. But when Ivy Ledbetter Lee was 108 00:06:48,120 --> 00:06:52,120 Speaker 1: growing up in Georgia, America was a very different place. 109 00:06:54,600 --> 00:06:57,440 Speaker 1: Lee was born just a few years after Americans discovered 110 00:06:57,480 --> 00:07:00,760 Speaker 1: that oil could be used for energy. Before that, it 111 00:07:00,800 --> 00:07:03,640 Speaker 1: was just this annoying substance that came up whenever we 112 00:07:03,640 --> 00:07:06,640 Speaker 1: were looking for water or salt. And then it became 113 00:07:06,800 --> 00:07:15,160 Speaker 1: a cure all seriously, people used to put crude oil 114 00:07:15,320 --> 00:07:18,560 Speaker 1: on sore muscles or even drink it to treat everything 115 00:07:18,600 --> 00:07:22,120 Speaker 1: from cholera to bronchitis. But by the eighteen seventies, the 116 00:07:22,120 --> 00:07:25,720 Speaker 1: oil rush was on. Journalist I had a Tarbell chronicled 117 00:07:25,720 --> 00:07:29,360 Speaker 1: those days in her magnum Opus, The History of Standard Oil. 118 00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:33,360 Speaker 1: Ivy Lee was born during those eighteen seventy boom years. 119 00:07:33,840 --> 00:07:36,480 Speaker 1: He was the son of a popular minister in Georgia. 120 00:07:36,880 --> 00:07:40,320 Speaker 1: After graduating from Princeton University, Lee worked as a reporter 121 00:07:40,440 --> 00:07:43,400 Speaker 1: for a few years and then, like so many journalists sins. 122 00:07:43,480 --> 00:07:45,760 Speaker 1: He got tired of being broke and took a job 123 00:07:45,800 --> 00:07:46,880 Speaker 1: as a publicity guy. 124 00:07:47,080 --> 00:07:47,880 Speaker 2: From there, he got. 125 00:07:47,720 --> 00:07:50,800 Speaker 1: Into political campaigning and he worked for the Democratic National 126 00:07:50,840 --> 00:07:53,600 Speaker 1: Committee for a while the DNC. There he met a 127 00:07:53,600 --> 00:07:56,360 Speaker 1: guy named George Parker who was working on the campaign 128 00:07:56,480 --> 00:07:59,600 Speaker 1: of a Judge, Alton Parker. The judge is a candidate 129 00:07:59,640 --> 00:08:03,200 Speaker 1: no one remembers because he got absolutely trounced by President 130 00:08:03,240 --> 00:08:10,240 Speaker 1: Theodore Roosevelt, who won his reelection that year. When the 131 00:08:10,280 --> 00:08:13,119 Speaker 1: election was over, George and Ivy joined forces to create 132 00:08:13,160 --> 00:08:16,040 Speaker 1: one of the country's first PR firms. They were also 133 00:08:16,080 --> 00:08:20,520 Speaker 1: the first to distinguish public relations from just publicity. Publicity 134 00:08:20,640 --> 00:08:23,880 Speaker 1: was about getting your picture in a paper. Public relations 135 00:08:24,000 --> 00:08:27,760 Speaker 1: was about building a real relationship not just between your 136 00:08:27,760 --> 00:08:30,200 Speaker 1: client and the media, but also kind of using the 137 00:08:30,280 --> 00:08:33,320 Speaker 1: media to make a better relationship between your client and 138 00:08:33,360 --> 00:08:36,480 Speaker 1: the public. As a former journalist, Lee really believed that 139 00:08:36,559 --> 00:08:40,640 Speaker 1: companies should be more transparent with the press. In his mind, 140 00:08:40,840 --> 00:08:44,640 Speaker 1: rather than hiring publicity managers, companies should be hiring staff 141 00:08:44,800 --> 00:08:48,839 Speaker 1: journalists to help them explain themselves to the public. So, yeah, 142 00:08:48,880 --> 00:08:51,280 Speaker 1: we might have him to thank for that trend. Lee 143 00:08:51,360 --> 00:08:54,440 Speaker 1: worked with a bunch of coal companies in his early years, 144 00:08:54,520 --> 00:08:57,840 Speaker 1: and they were all pretty regularly embroiled with labor disputes. 145 00:08:58,040 --> 00:09:00,640 Speaker 1: So he put out this declaration of print that was 146 00:09:00,679 --> 00:09:04,439 Speaker 1: all about how companies should be truthful and authentic. But 147 00:09:04,559 --> 00:09:07,720 Speaker 1: what he actually help them do is use the truth 148 00:09:07,920 --> 00:09:11,240 Speaker 1: to sell lies, and that's a key tactic the fossil 149 00:09:11,240 --> 00:09:15,520 Speaker 1: fuel industry still uses today. Here's science historian Naomia Risquez. 150 00:09:15,720 --> 00:09:17,959 Speaker 4: One of the reasons that it's so easy for people 151 00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:21,360 Speaker 4: to sow doubt about climate change or any other issue 152 00:09:21,679 --> 00:09:25,240 Speaker 4: is that if confusion is your goal, mixed messages are 153 00:09:25,280 --> 00:09:28,160 Speaker 4: a very effective strategy. So you can say a lot 154 00:09:28,200 --> 00:09:31,559 Speaker 4: of different things, and some of them may well be true, 155 00:09:31,960 --> 00:09:34,120 Speaker 4: and you can even quote out of context the true 156 00:09:34,160 --> 00:09:36,240 Speaker 4: things you have said in order to make it seem 157 00:09:36,280 --> 00:09:39,559 Speaker 4: as if you are quite reasonable, as if you're operating 158 00:09:39,640 --> 00:09:42,680 Speaker 4: good faith, and that you are an entity to be trusted. 159 00:09:43,000 --> 00:09:45,000 Speaker 1: You can totally see the roots of that in the 160 00:09:45,160 --> 00:09:48,680 Speaker 1: very first press release, which Ivy Lee wrote in nineteen 161 00:09:48,720 --> 00:09:51,240 Speaker 1: oh six, Parker and Lee were working on behalf of 162 00:09:51,280 --> 00:09:54,560 Speaker 1: the Pennsylvania Railroad Company when one of its trains fell 163 00:09:54,600 --> 00:10:00,760 Speaker 1: off a drawbridge in Atlantic City. Fifty people were drowned, 164 00:10:01,040 --> 00:10:04,400 Speaker 1: and the railroad came to Lee and Parker basically looking 165 00:10:04,440 --> 00:10:08,120 Speaker 1: for help covering it up, because that's how railroads handled 166 00:10:08,120 --> 00:10:10,520 Speaker 1: things at the time, they were constantly having recks and 167 00:10:10,559 --> 00:10:13,200 Speaker 1: then covering up what happened. But Lee had learned from 168 00:10:13,200 --> 00:10:15,680 Speaker 1: his time with the coal companies that this kind of 169 00:10:15,679 --> 00:10:17,680 Speaker 1: thing was just a bad move. It made the public 170 00:10:17,760 --> 00:10:21,360 Speaker 1: distrust you, and besides, it wasn't always the railroad's fault 171 00:10:21,360 --> 00:10:23,920 Speaker 1: that these recks happened. Plus, he was starting to realize 172 00:10:23,920 --> 00:10:26,400 Speaker 1: that whoever told the story first was the one the 173 00:10:26,440 --> 00:10:30,679 Speaker 1: public really listened to. So he convinced the Pennsylvania Railroad 174 00:10:30,720 --> 00:10:33,440 Speaker 1: guys to go a different route and draft a statement 175 00:10:33,520 --> 00:10:36,640 Speaker 1: to send to the media instead. And it does exactly 176 00:10:36,679 --> 00:10:40,000 Speaker 1: this thing that Arescuez talks about. It uses various truths 177 00:10:40,080 --> 00:10:41,880 Speaker 1: to ultimately mislead people. 178 00:10:42,160 --> 00:10:42,719 Speaker 2: It says the. 179 00:10:42,679 --> 00:10:46,120 Speaker 1: Wreck happened, the company doesn't know why yet, but it's investigating, 180 00:10:46,480 --> 00:10:48,600 Speaker 1: but it knows that it's not the rails or the 181 00:10:48,640 --> 00:10:52,280 Speaker 1: bridge or the operators, and it lands on a suspicion 182 00:10:52,360 --> 00:10:54,760 Speaker 1: of the cause of the wreck the manufacturing of the 183 00:10:54,800 --> 00:10:57,040 Speaker 1: train car, which of course is the only thing the 184 00:10:57,120 --> 00:11:01,120 Speaker 1: railroad has no responsibility for. So it never outright lies. 185 00:11:01,280 --> 00:11:05,360 Speaker 1: It just leads to a particular conclusion that benefits the railroad. 186 00:11:05,640 --> 00:11:07,920 Speaker 1: Lee sent this statement to the New York Times and 187 00:11:07,920 --> 00:11:12,000 Speaker 1: got an incredible result. The paper printed it word for word. 188 00:11:12,559 --> 00:11:16,520 Speaker 1: And now suddenly Lee realizes, Wow, this is a lot 189 00:11:16,559 --> 00:11:19,880 Speaker 1: of power. I can just tell journalists what the story 190 00:11:20,000 --> 00:11:22,440 Speaker 1: is and they'll print it. This is a big deal 191 00:11:22,840 --> 00:11:26,000 Speaker 1: and a really big tool for industry. It wasn't just 192 00:11:26,240 --> 00:11:29,120 Speaker 1: generally a better idea to tell people what you're actually 193 00:11:29,200 --> 00:11:31,959 Speaker 1: up to. Communicating with the press in this way also 194 00:11:32,040 --> 00:11:34,679 Speaker 1: gave you the opportunity to shape the story. So this 195 00:11:34,720 --> 00:11:38,680 Speaker 1: is a big, big shift in how the public gets information. 196 00:11:39,320 --> 00:11:41,960 Speaker 1: A couple of years later, Lee has another big breakthrough. 197 00:11:42,160 --> 00:11:45,360 Speaker 1: He realizes another key part of shaping the story is 198 00:11:45,400 --> 00:11:49,200 Speaker 1: shaping the language journalists use to describe his clients and 199 00:11:49,240 --> 00:11:51,560 Speaker 1: what they're doing. So by this point his firm has 200 00:11:51,600 --> 00:11:54,360 Speaker 1: shut down. He and George of parted ways, and he's 201 00:11:54,400 --> 00:11:57,600 Speaker 1: working full time for the Pennsylvania Railroad. He writes the 202 00:11:57,640 --> 00:12:00,720 Speaker 1: first pr advice book, and in it he says the 203 00:12:00,840 --> 00:12:03,439 Speaker 1: key thing that companies need to worry about is getting 204 00:12:03,520 --> 00:12:06,000 Speaker 1: the public on their side, and he talks about how 205 00:12:06,040 --> 00:12:08,440 Speaker 1: you can use language to do that. He gives the 206 00:12:08,480 --> 00:12:12,120 Speaker 1: example of railroads and the full crew law. So, like 207 00:12:12,200 --> 00:12:14,400 Speaker 1: I said, at the time, there were a lot of wrecks, 208 00:12:14,960 --> 00:12:17,520 Speaker 1: and actually a lot of them were happening because of 209 00:12:17,600 --> 00:12:21,360 Speaker 1: negligence and because trains were understaffed. So the government steps 210 00:12:21,360 --> 00:12:23,559 Speaker 1: in and they try to impose what they call full 211 00:12:23,640 --> 00:12:26,880 Speaker 1: crew regulations. Basically, you have to have full staff on 212 00:12:26,920 --> 00:12:29,640 Speaker 1: your train to make sure it's safe. But Lee flips 213 00:12:29,679 --> 00:12:32,760 Speaker 1: the script on this. He has the Pennsylvania Railroad guys 214 00:12:32,800 --> 00:12:37,520 Speaker 1: start talking about these regulations as extra crew requirements. So 215 00:12:37,679 --> 00:12:40,840 Speaker 1: just think about that for a second. The difference between 216 00:12:40,920 --> 00:12:44,080 Speaker 1: full and extra and what a stroke of geniuses was. 217 00:12:44,600 --> 00:12:47,839 Speaker 1: Full implies that the railroads are cutting corners, that their 218 00:12:47,880 --> 00:12:51,319 Speaker 1: crews are lacking in some way. Extra implies that this 219 00:12:51,400 --> 00:12:54,520 Speaker 1: is not a necessity, That the government is asking railroads 220 00:12:54,520 --> 00:12:56,760 Speaker 1: to do more than they need to and imposing a 221 00:12:56,760 --> 00:13:01,200 Speaker 1: burden on them. It's totally standard industry been today. But 222 00:13:01,280 --> 00:13:03,520 Speaker 1: we have Ivy Lee to think for that. And that's 223 00:13:03,520 --> 00:13:06,320 Speaker 1: a good thing to remember that this kind of thinking 224 00:13:06,440 --> 00:13:09,920 Speaker 1: was going on in the background of corporate communications, very 225 00:13:09,960 --> 00:13:13,400 Speaker 1: strategically more than one hundred years ago, especially when you 226 00:13:13,520 --> 00:13:16,760 Speaker 1: listen to the way the industry described itself today leading 227 00:13:16,800 --> 00:13:19,480 Speaker 1: the world in oil and natural gas production. That means 228 00:13:19,520 --> 00:13:23,120 Speaker 1: lower energy costs, more growth, more security for Americans. More 229 00:13:23,240 --> 00:13:26,520 Speaker 1: energy means more opportunity. We see the right policies to 230 00:13:26,559 --> 00:13:29,440 Speaker 1: make it happen. By the time Ivy Lee began working 231 00:13:29,480 --> 00:13:33,320 Speaker 1: with Rockefeller in nineteen fourteen, he was a master at 232 00:13:33,320 --> 00:13:36,520 Speaker 1: this stuff. And shortly after that the US joined World 233 00:13:36,600 --> 00:13:39,679 Speaker 1: War One and Lee was tapped to run publicity for 234 00:13:39,760 --> 00:13:43,920 Speaker 1: the American Red Cross. That job put him in regular 235 00:13:43,960 --> 00:13:47,720 Speaker 1: contact with the government's propaganda department, which was also run 236 00:13:47,760 --> 00:13:51,160 Speaker 1: by a former journalist turned political campaigner, a guy named 237 00:13:51,160 --> 00:13:55,040 Speaker 1: George Creole. Creole had helped campaign for President Woodrow Wilson 238 00:13:55,080 --> 00:13:57,439 Speaker 1: with the slogan he kept us out of the war, 239 00:13:57,920 --> 00:14:00,360 Speaker 1: So now that Wilson was joining the war, you wanted 240 00:14:00,400 --> 00:14:02,960 Speaker 1: Kreole's help convincing the American public that it was a 241 00:14:02,960 --> 00:14:04,400 Speaker 1: good idea, and. 242 00:14:04,400 --> 00:14:05,760 Speaker 2: Creole was up to the task. 243 00:14:06,280 --> 00:14:11,679 Speaker 1: He pulled together both journalists and publicity experts, graphic designers, musicians, filmmakers, 244 00:14:11,840 --> 00:14:15,400 Speaker 1: basically anyone who had worked in or around media and 245 00:14:15,640 --> 00:14:18,840 Speaker 1: entertainment in any way, and he launches a full blown 246 00:14:18,920 --> 00:14:29,840 Speaker 1: propaganda campaign across film, print and radio. Even Ida Tarbell 247 00:14:29,960 --> 00:14:32,360 Speaker 1: was part of the Creole Commission. It was all hands 248 00:14:32,400 --> 00:14:35,200 Speaker 1: on deck. The Creole Commission and Ivy Lee at the 249 00:14:35,240 --> 00:14:38,480 Speaker 1: Red Cross were also tasked with creating a positive image 250 00:14:38,480 --> 00:14:41,320 Speaker 1: of America outside the country. The guy in charge of 251 00:14:41,360 --> 00:14:44,880 Speaker 1: that for Creole was Edward Burneze, who just so happened 252 00:14:44,920 --> 00:14:47,760 Speaker 1: to be the nephew of Sigmund Freud. Bernese put all 253 00:14:47,800 --> 00:14:50,920 Speaker 1: of his uncle's psychological know how to work on behalf 254 00:14:51,000 --> 00:14:53,000 Speaker 1: of the country. He went on to become one of 255 00:14:53,120 --> 00:14:56,720 Speaker 1: Lee's top competitors, and, like Lee, to have a large 256 00:14:56,760 --> 00:15:00,760 Speaker 1: influence on Hitler's approach to propaganda. In those days, they 257 00:15:00,760 --> 00:15:04,040 Speaker 1: were focused on selling America to the world and learning 258 00:15:04,120 --> 00:15:07,400 Speaker 1: a lot from each other. One of Berneese's big innovations 259 00:15:07,480 --> 00:15:10,840 Speaker 1: was to enlist Hollywood in the effort, banning the export 260 00:15:10,880 --> 00:15:14,600 Speaker 1: of anything that showed America in even slightly negative light 261 00:15:14,760 --> 00:15:23,440 Speaker 1: and funding movies that highlighted the bravery of American soldiers. 262 00:15:25,920 --> 00:15:29,280 Speaker 1: It was the broadest and best funded pr effort Lee 263 00:15:29,320 --> 00:15:32,360 Speaker 1: had ever seen, and the experience taught him a very 264 00:15:32,440 --> 00:15:35,960 Speaker 1: key lesson. If you can pull together enough resources, you 265 00:15:36,000 --> 00:15:40,560 Speaker 1: can wage an all out psychological war that's impossible to beat, 266 00:15:41,040 --> 00:15:44,280 Speaker 1: which of course gave him an idea for his best client, 267 00:15:44,440 --> 00:15:48,600 Speaker 1: Standard Oil. One company, even a company run by Rockefellers, 268 00:15:48,720 --> 00:15:51,440 Speaker 1: could only do so much. But what if they came 269 00:15:51,480 --> 00:15:54,960 Speaker 1: together as an industry. They'd already kind of done it. 270 00:15:55,080 --> 00:15:57,680 Speaker 1: A petroleum board of all the companies was pulled together 271 00:15:57,800 --> 00:15:59,640 Speaker 1: during the war to make sure there was a steady 272 00:15:59,640 --> 00:16:02,520 Speaker 1: supply fuel to the front. If they could come together 273 00:16:02,600 --> 00:16:05,000 Speaker 1: during war, why couldn't they do it to benefit the 274 00:16:05,040 --> 00:16:10,000 Speaker 1: industry in peacetime. Here's environmental sociologist Bob Rule. 275 00:16:09,840 --> 00:16:12,240 Speaker 3: Ivy Lee draw us on his experience in the war 276 00:16:12,280 --> 00:16:19,520 Speaker 3: propaganda board effort to start developing larger institutional public relations efforts, 277 00:16:19,520 --> 00:16:23,680 Speaker 3: and he works with the head of Standard Oil of 278 00:16:23,800 --> 00:16:27,600 Speaker 3: New Jersey, which we now know as Exonmobil, to form 279 00:16:27,800 --> 00:16:32,520 Speaker 3: the American Petroleum Institute in nineteen ninety and so the 280 00:16:32,560 --> 00:16:36,200 Speaker 3: American Petroleum Institute is now one hundred years old, and 281 00:16:36,240 --> 00:16:41,880 Speaker 3: it's considered to be the really the first modern sophisticated 282 00:16:42,640 --> 00:16:47,040 Speaker 3: public relations oriented trade association in the world. 283 00:16:47,120 --> 00:16:50,760 Speaker 1: So in nineteen nineteen, ivy Lea begins representing not just 284 00:16:50,840 --> 00:16:54,440 Speaker 1: the various Standard Oil companies, but also a new oil 285 00:16:54,560 --> 00:16:59,280 Speaker 1: industry group, the American Petroleum Institute. With the resources of 286 00:16:59,320 --> 00:17:02,440 Speaker 1: the entire industry behind it, the API didn't have to 287 00:17:02,520 --> 00:17:06,840 Speaker 1: choose between media relations and lobbying or influencing the film 288 00:17:06,880 --> 00:17:09,399 Speaker 1: industry and the news press. It could do all of 289 00:17:09,440 --> 00:17:12,679 Speaker 1: it and more. This is really Ivy Lee's great and 290 00:17:12,920 --> 00:17:17,600 Speaker 1: lasting contribution to how the world sees the oil industry today. 291 00:17:18,119 --> 00:17:20,679 Speaker 1: For more than a century now, the API has been 292 00:17:20,760 --> 00:17:25,919 Speaker 1: running a multi pronged propaganda campaign in doctrinating Americans with 293 00:17:26,000 --> 00:17:29,000 Speaker 1: the idea that the oil industry is a fundamental part 294 00:17:29,040 --> 00:17:32,520 Speaker 1: of American life. It started just after World War One, 295 00:17:32,720 --> 00:17:35,399 Speaker 1: went right through World War Two, and has carried on 296 00:17:35,560 --> 00:17:38,679 Speaker 1: ever since. Here's a bit from a short film the 297 00:17:38,720 --> 00:17:43,040 Speaker 1: API released in nineteen fifty called twenty four Hours of Progress. 298 00:17:43,240 --> 00:17:47,399 Speaker 3: The production of oil is a measure of American progress. 299 00:17:47,880 --> 00:17:53,080 Speaker 1: As our nation grows, so grows petroleum. Now compare that 300 00:17:53,160 --> 00:17:58,040 Speaker 1: with this twenty eighteen campaign they ran called Power Past Impossible. 301 00:17:58,080 --> 00:18:00,119 Speaker 1: I think the things that we're dealing with Techno and 302 00:18:00,160 --> 00:18:02,119 Speaker 1: he were pushing the boundary of what the oil and 303 00:18:02,160 --> 00:18:06,440 Speaker 1: gas industry has seen. So before this guy talks, there's 304 00:18:06,480 --> 00:18:10,160 Speaker 1: a lot of hard bumping music and some patriotic word 305 00:18:10,280 --> 00:18:13,360 Speaker 1: salad on the screen connecting the oil industry to everything 306 00:18:13,400 --> 00:18:15,080 Speaker 1: you know and love about America. 307 00:18:15,320 --> 00:18:17,520 Speaker 2: It is really heavy handed and. 308 00:18:17,720 --> 00:18:23,439 Speaker 1: Very America fuck yeah, and it's clearly trying to target 309 00:18:23,480 --> 00:18:26,520 Speaker 1: young people. Part of this ad ran during the Super Bowl. 310 00:18:26,840 --> 00:18:30,000 Speaker 1: Other parts showed up all over YouTube and various podcasts. 311 00:18:30,320 --> 00:18:33,560 Speaker 1: But again, remember the big lesson Ivy Lee brought home 312 00:18:33,600 --> 00:18:36,480 Speaker 1: from World War One to the oil industry was not 313 00:18:36,920 --> 00:18:39,800 Speaker 1: just pool all these resources into a big group that 314 00:18:39,880 --> 00:18:44,000 Speaker 1: can't be tracked, but also pull all these resources so 315 00:18:44,080 --> 00:18:47,840 Speaker 1: you can wage a multi front, all out propaganda war. 316 00:18:48,400 --> 00:18:51,800 Speaker 1: So it's not just commercials we're talking about here. It's 317 00:18:51,920 --> 00:18:55,560 Speaker 1: way broader and deeper than that. Here's doctor Brule again. 318 00:18:55,640 --> 00:19:00,639 Speaker 3: The America Petrollium Institute was actively engaging in public relations activity, 319 00:19:00,800 --> 00:19:05,800 Speaker 3: and I did find some material about their educational outreach 320 00:19:06,080 --> 00:19:11,240 Speaker 3: to elementary and secondary schools in the nineteen sixties about 321 00:19:11,359 --> 00:19:17,200 Speaker 3: you know, getting their viewpoint about energy and petroleum into schools, 322 00:19:17,400 --> 00:19:20,919 Speaker 3: which starts certainly in the sixties and continues to this 323 00:19:21,080 --> 00:19:21,520 Speaker 3: very day. 324 00:19:25,000 --> 00:19:29,200 Speaker 1: It's every aspect of society and culture, from Super Bowl 325 00:19:29,240 --> 00:19:34,360 Speaker 1: ads to educational materials in schools for one hundred years, 326 00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:39,520 Speaker 1: repeating the same message. Oil is good, Oil is American 327 00:19:39,920 --> 00:19:44,800 Speaker 1: oil is necessary for progress. Oil is good, Oil is 328 00:19:44,840 --> 00:19:53,840 Speaker 1: American oil is necessary for progress. Next time on Drill 329 00:19:54,000 --> 00:19:58,439 Speaker 1: will meet our next spinmaster. Daniel Edelman learned all about 330 00:19:58,520 --> 00:20:03,320 Speaker 1: psychological warfare while combatting Nazi propaganda in World War Two 331 00:20:03,920 --> 00:20:06,359 Speaker 1: and came home and used those tricks on behalf of 332 00:20:06,480 --> 00:20:10,679 Speaker 1: various industries, including the fossil fuel industry and his largest client, 333 00:20:11,240 --> 00:20:21,040 Speaker 1: the American Petroleum Institute. Drilled is part of the Critical 334 00:20:21,080 --> 00:20:25,320 Speaker 1: Frequency podcast Network. The show is reported, written, and produced 335 00:20:25,359 --> 00:20:28,720 Speaker 1: by me Amy Westerwaldt. Julia Richie is our editor. Our 336 00:20:28,760 --> 00:20:32,720 Speaker 1: managing producer is Katie Ross. She also created this season's 337 00:20:32,720 --> 00:20:36,959 Speaker 1: incredible artwork, sound design, scoring and mixing by b Emon. 338 00:20:37,600 --> 00:20:41,159 Speaker 1: Riga Murthy is our editorial advisor. Neambula Schaance is our 339 00:20:41,200 --> 00:20:44,399 Speaker 1: fact checker. Special thanks to Richard Wiles and to our 340 00:20:44,440 --> 00:20:48,359 Speaker 1: First Amendment Attorney, James Wheaton and the First Amendment Project. 341 00:20:48,880 --> 00:20:50,480 Speaker 2: Drilled is made possible. 342 00:20:50,080 --> 00:20:52,399 Speaker 1: In part by a generous grant from the Institute for 343 00:20:52,480 --> 00:20:54,440 Speaker 1: Governance and Sustainable Development. 344 00:20:54,760 --> 00:20:56,120 Speaker 2: We appreciate their support. 345 00:20:56,600 --> 00:21:00,680 Speaker 1: You can find Drilled on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or 346 00:21:00,720 --> 00:21:03,399 Speaker 1: wherever you get your podcasts. Don't forget to leave us 347 00:21:03,440 --> 00:21:06,040 Speaker 1: a rating, a review. It really helps the show. And 348 00:21:06,240 --> 00:21:08,760 Speaker 1: you can follow us on Twitter now at we are 349 00:21:08,920 --> 00:21:12,639 Speaker 1: Drilled and visit our new website drillednews dot com for 350 00:21:12,720 --> 00:21:17,120 Speaker 1: climate accountability, reporting, newsletters, and behind the scenes stories from 351 00:21:17,160 --> 00:21:20,080 Speaker 1: this season. Thanks for listening and we'll see you next time.