Human society revolves around myths. Myths are essential to keep a society enthralled, obsessed, committed and controlled. Myth makers have been important elements of any society. Kings, emperors, dictators, sultans, pashas, presidents and corporations all need myth makers to keep their myths alive. One of the great myth makers of modern times, Sir Martin Sorrell of WPP, has recently been removed from his corporation. Financial impropriety was the reason.
The early Greek civilization revolved around mythology. Mount Olympus where the gods resided (the Olympics are so named). Juno, Zeus, Diana etc. Homer the Greek classicist wrote the Iliad. Till today Homer dominates western thinking. The other long lasting myth revolves around Plato, the intellectual descendant of Socrates and Aristotle. The myth is that Plato was the Father of Democracy. Far from it, Platocracy actually is the rule of the chosen elite.
Much later, in the June 1215, the Magna Carta Charter was signed by the King of England. A myth was spread around the world that the Magna Carta is the basic document of modern democracy. This is misleading. The Magna Carta is about sharing power between the Monarch and the Nobility. It hardly mentions the welfare of people.
Hollywood was the greatest myth making factory in history. Apart from other achievements Hollywood spread the "American Myth" all over the world. In reality Hollywood has always been the most powerful city in the US, surpassing New York (the financial center) and Washington D.C. (the political center). When we were young (1950s/60s) the great Hollywood myth was about Cowboys. John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, Gary Cooper, etc. Actually the Cowboy of the American west was a deprived person. He was poorly paid, poorly fed, had a work day of 18 hours and lived in a small cabin with 8 or 10 other colleagues. Most died young. Lone ranger and Tonto, Roy Roger were great comics. The Macho Marlboro Man, the icon of the Marlboro advertisements, died of lung cancer.
The other great Hollywood myths of the 1950s/60s were the World War II movies. The history of wars is always written by the winners. Churchill was trying to persuade President Roosevelt to enter the war on the side of the Allies. Roosevelt was not interested. Then the Japanese made the mistake of attacking to Pearl Harbor (the greatest blunder of WWII). The most highly guarded secret of WWII, is that Churchill and some of his war cabinet ministers, had intelligence intercepts about the attack. They deliberately did not share this info with the Americans. After the Pearl Harbor, the US entered the war. Germany, by 1942, had overrun most of Europe. Only Britain hung on by a thread. Then Hitler opened the Northern front against the Soviet Union - a totally unnecessary military strategy. The Soviet Union, willy-nilly, was dragged into the war. Defending the Soviet Union cost more than 30 million lives. The battle of Leningrad was fought street to street, door to door, building to building. Eventually the Nazi war machine was destroyed, because of the Red Army. Yet few people know about this historic fact. The Hollywood myth makers make us believe that US created the victory. Of course Hitler was no angel. His propaganda chief, Goebbels, was a master myth maker. He created the myth about Aryan supremacy.
Another great myth was about the invasion of Iraq (the First Gulf War). The Nato powers assisted by Israel had engineered the Iraq-Iran war. After 10 years there was no victory, only stalemate. By the time Saddam was very heavily armed. Nato had provided him the latest weaponry. Now Saddam was seen as a threat to the neighbouring pro-West Arab states and Israel. Nato debated how to disarm him. As a stratagem, Ms. Glespie, the US Ambassador, told Saddam that if he invaded Kuwait, the USA/Nato would not intervene. Saddam took the bait. The myth makers of the West, the TV channels (led by Fox), the Press, etc., went into an overdrive. The invasion was launched and General Schwarzkopf made a laughing stock of the Republican Guard.
Currently, Nawaz Sharif, the deposed PM, has launched a myth and a media blitz. All on government expense. It remains to be seen whether the people of Punjab will swallow the lies. The chief myth maker Maryam Nawaz is big on theatrics but short on substance.
India is quite good at myth making (call it Branding if you will). Bollywood plays a big part. Who is going to argue with the charms of Priyanka Chopra, Deepika Padukone, Anushka Sharma, especially when they show a lot of skin. The corporates of India are mega rich and make for good "imagery". But India is a deeply divided country. The world has taken little note of the carnage and mayhem in Kashmir because of "Shining India" myth.
In corporate world, advertising and brand building are the jargon of choice. It is a very big and influential industry. Worth more than US$ 700 billion currently. In the last 50 years some great brands have been created. The value of some brands, 2018, is more than the GDP of some emerging countries. The Google brand is valued at US$ 287 billion. Apple at US$ 279 billion. Amazon at US$ 165 billion. Microsoft at US$ 155 billion. Facebook at US$ 151 billion.
(The writer is the former Executive Director of the Management Association of Pakistan)