Last night saw the screening of the second part of Century of the Self, a highly detailed examination of the way psychoanalysis has been misused in the drive towards consumerism, particularly in the USA. Of particular note in part two was the mention of the intellectual opposition, including Vance Packard (His "Hidden Persuaders" is a key work of early anti-capitalism) and Herbert Marcuse (there was a brief interview with him).
However, the series has its own 'subliminal' propaganda; without substantiating the charge, the impression is given that saturation- comsumerism is overwhelmingly the work of Sigmund Freud. In the first episode, it even implied that the NSDAP utilised his theories for the indoctrination of the masses(!) when as is known, the great professor was despised by the Nazis for his Jewishness (and intellectualism) and eventually expelled from Vienna. If his relatives, such as Bernays and Anna , exploited his ideas after his death, this is hardly his fault (!) We see a similar case with Darwin, often falsely accused of founding genetic- survivalist theories, or of Nietzsche, (or Marx leading directly to Stalin).
I would estimate that the next episodes will not be as interesting as the previous two, but tune in on Sunday evening and watch for the repeats.