How One Man In The 1920’s Sold Bacon As America’s Breakfast

…And the 4 STEAL-RIGHT-NOW Techniques He Used to Do It.

Want a faster read? Check the highlighted sections for easy take-home lessons.

Did you know the reason you – and millions of others – eat bacon for breakfast was part of an orchestrated public relations campaign?

AND that you can steal the tactics that made it happen?

Here’s a shock:

You didn’t choose to eat bacon for breakfast.

A public relations guru named Edward Bernays chose it for you – in the 1920’s.

It took him just six months – with one campaign.

And over a hundred years later, the world is still eating it up – pun intended.

This is the greatest copywriting story ever told.

Here’s how he did it.

The Man Who Changed What We Eat

To be clear, Edward Bernays WASN'T a marketer.

He was Sigmund Freud's nephew.

And he learned one thing from his uncle that changed the world:

People don't make decisions the way they think they do.

Underneath every conscious choice is an unconscious one – driven by EMOTION.

And if you understand the machinery, you can pull the levers.

Here’s Edward Bernays in his own words:

"If we understand the mechanism and motives of the group mind, it is now possible to control and regiment the masses according to our will without them knowing it.”

And he got the chance to prove that it worked…

The Problem With Bacon

The Beech-Nut Packing Company had a problem.

They had too much bacon. We’re talking WAREHOUSES full of the stuff.

Because Americans changed.

Americans in the 1920s had moved off the farm and into offices – and with the shift, they'd traded the heavy old farmhouse breakfast for something lighter.

Coffee.

MAYBE some cereal.

And Beech-Nut's warehouses were filling up with unsold pork.

So, they called Edward Bernays.

Bernays – who didn't eat bacon himself, by the way – took the account.

And what he did next is a masterclass EVERY copywriter needs to study.

How He Did It (3 simple moves)

Here’s what he DIDN’T do.

He didn't run bacon ads.

No celebrity spokesperson.

He didn't even talk about Beech-Nut.

He did something SMARTER.

MOVE 1 – Bernays went to his physician (actually his firm’s in-house physician) and asked a simple question:

"Would a heavier breakfast be better for people's health than a lighter one?"

The doctor agreed it would.

MOVE 2 – Bernays asked that doctor to write to 5,000 of his physician colleagues, asking them to confirm his own belief in the merits of a heavy breakfast.

4,500 doctors wrote back saying a heavy breakfast was, in Bernays' own words, "scientifically desirable."

Now the wheels were in motion.

MOVE 3 – Bernays sent findings – along with images and mentions of bacon and eggs (a good, hearty breakfast) – to newspapers and magazines across the country.

Instead of a public relations campaign, the papers picked it up as news.

Six months later, Beech-Nut's bacon sales were booming.

And a hundred years later, 70% of the bacon eaten in the United States is still eaten at breakfast.

How crazy is that?

That's not a sales spike.

That's a permanent psychological rewrite of an entire civilization’s eating habits.

Bernays didn't sell bacon – he installed a ritual.

And here’s the good news…

Everything he did is stealable.

And every technique he used – you can use TODAY, in the next fundraising appeal you send.

The Four Techniques You SHOULD Steal

Bernays didn’t invent anything crazy or magical.

It’s all usable content.

Here’s what we want you to take home:

Third-Party Authority

Bernays never had Beech-Nut make their own health claim.

He had doctors make it for them.

And, you know who everyone trusts? DOCTORS.

But who would trust a BACON COMPANY telling them what’s healthy?

Steal It:

Use real testimonials. Get real endorsements. And use trusted quotes.

Anytime you can put your message in a trusted mouth instead of your own, you should.

Reframe The Problem

Think about how it went, in a simple explanation:

Beech-Nut wanted people to buy bacon.

Bernays never asked anyone to buy bacon.

He asked them to eat a healthier breakfast.

The bacon just came along for the ride – and what a ride!

Steal It:

Lead with the reader's problem – and let your ask emerge as the obvious solution.

Instead of just asking for a donation – explain WHY their donation will help fix a problem they care about.

News-Shaped Content

Bernays didn't buy ad space.

He wrote a story that looked like news.

The readers didn’t see an ad – they were reading the paper.

Steal It:

Think about an appeal that feels like something an insider would receive. “INVESTOR REPORT” or “EXCLUSIVE UPDATE”.

When you write copy that feels like helpful information the readers should care about, their ad-defence system doesn't engage.

Associative Marketing

Bernays didn't just get doctors to say, "eat a heavier breakfast."

He paired that recommendation with bacon and eggs.

And he didn’t stop until bacon and eggs went from a heavy breakfast option to THE heavy breakfast choice.

Steal It:

Never let your slogan or cause float on its own. Pair it with something people CARE about. Don’t just say affordable housing – say more housing for families like yours.

And repeat, repeat, repeat.

What Bernays Understood That Most Don’t

Most fundraisers think they're writing a letter or an email.

Bernays understood he was engineering BEHAVIOUR.

He wasn't trying to make you buy bacon for breakfast.

He was trying to make bacon feel like breakfast.

That's the difference between copy that works once and copy that reshapes a category.

Why Do The Hard Work When We Can Do It For You?

Simple question.

If your problem is that you want YOUR content to work more like this – and perform better – that’s a problem we can fix.

And in just a QUICK 30-minute phone call, we will GUARANTEE to give you 2-3 ACTIONABLE ideas for your brand, campaign, or organization right away.

Let's Talk!