A Pseudo-Event is a totally manufactured and staged media event designed to influence and persuade.
What Is A Pseudo-Event?
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Propaganda by Edward Bernays features the theory behind the pseudo-event.
The novel Confessions of a Professional Conspiracy Theorist features a real-world example of the technique in action.
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Manufactured Reality: A Guide to Pseudo-Events
- By Patrick
- Everyday Persuasion Articles, The Theory
- Reading Time 5 Minutes
Table of Contents
The First Pseudo-Event
This is from a staged newspaper story, paid for by tobacco companies, intended to break the social taboo of women smoking in public.
The tobacco companies wanted to change this thinking. If they could influence the attitudes of the public and encourage more women to start smoking outside of the home, it would see a healthy increase in sales and profits.
A man named Edward Bernays who was skilled in the art of public relations, was given the job.
Bernays staged a totally fabricated publicity stunt where he arranged for fashionable young women to be seen in the newspapers smoking at the Easter Parade in New York 1929.
It worked. Women admired these cool young women and were inspired by what they had seen in the newspapers. Societal behaviour changed overnight, to the delight of the cigarette companies.
It was the first time a pseudo-event was used to influence a whole section of society.
(You can read more about the PR campaigns of Edward Bernays, and how they relate to today’s world by visiting our shop product here).
Let’s Do What They’re Doing!
Common Features of Pseudo-Events
Deliberately Staged
A pseudo-event is not a spontaneous news event, such as a natural disaster or emergency, but instead it is planned and prepared in advance by an organizer.
Apple Product Launch
Apple doesn’t hide what it’s doing. It hosts a press event, invites journalists, unveils a product, and lets the attending press do the selling afterward. Reviews, explainers, reaction pieces, “hands-on” articles — all flowing out to the public.
Designed for Media Attention
The event is created for the purpose of being reported. Its success is measured by the breadth of its media coverage.
Protests and Marches
The pseudo-event is a firm favourite with corporations and organisations who want to give the illusion of a genuine uprising and protest by the public.
These events are often what is known as as Astroturf Campaign, meaning the protest appears to be genuine but it has fake grass-roots and is being organised by the corporation who wishes to gain from the outcome of the protest.
Is This Real?
The event sits in a grey area between reality and performance. It looks like something real and genuine is happening, even when the underlying event and purpose is carefully staged managed.
Celebrities “spotted” using a product in ordinary settings
Public lifestyle shifts that signal values (diet, transport, causes)
Paparazzi-style images that feel observational rather than promotional
Self Fulfilling
The event works like a self-fulfilling prophecy: by presenting something as established or important, it encourages people to treat it that way, making the claim feel true after the fact.
When a book or product is promoted as a “number one bestseller,” the label itself pushes people to buy it.
Hidden Agenda
A pseudo-event always has a reason, even if that reason isn’t visible.
It might be framed as news, a trend, or a moment, but someone benefits if people believe it matters. The aim isn’t to inform — it’s to shape perception without looking like persuasion.
The less the agenda is discussed, the better the event works.
Michael Wright Book Signing Pseudo-Event
A scene from the novel Confessions of a Professional Conspiracy Theorist. An ex-TV personality embarking on a new career as a world-renowned conspiracy theorist was deliberately ambushed by a group of journalists at a book-signing session, whose role was to humiliate him in the press releases.
Examples of Pseudo-Events
Press Conferences
Scheduled gatherings where organizations provide scripted statements to journalists.
Photo Opportunities
Carefully choreographed moments, such as a politician cutting a ribbon or playing with a child.
Political Conventions
Elaborate presentations designed to project a specific narrative to the voting public.
Celebrity Events
Red carpet arrivals, award ceremonies, and planned “leaked” sex tapes intended to generate headlines.
Publicity Stunts
Staged activities, like a grand opening with a celebrity guest, meant to disrupt the news cycle.
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