Before the 1920s, the typical American breakfast was pretty bare-bones: some orange juice, maybe a roll, and a cup of coffee. In this video , though, Edward L. Bernays (known as the "Father of Public Relations") explains how he orchestrated a massive change in American public opinion to make bacon and eggs the All-American Breakfast . He based this approach on the actual opinion of some physicians, but, of course, he was also working for Beech-Nut, a company whose main product at the time was bacon. Another fun fact: Bernays was Sigmund Freud's nephew, so that should give you some idea of how he got so good at manipulating minds on a mass scale.

Bernays's influence on the modern food world doesn't stop at breakfast, though: one of his most successful PR campaigns helped the United Fruit Company (better known today as Chiquita Brands International) organize a coup to overthrow the government of Guatemala, creating a better business environment for their banana fields. He's a fascinating guy to read up on , if you haven't recently.

[NYT ]