"It floats," said Sigmond Freud. His source? See next ChatGPT post, the 1-13-24 short story.

 Edward Bernays (22 November 1891 – 9 March 1995).

Bernays is regarded as the pioneer of public relations. His influence radically changed the persuasion tactics used in campaign advertising and political campaigns.

Bernays was the nephew of Sigmund Freud. His early adoption of Freud's psychoanalytic theory was instrumental in defining the goals and strategies of public relations. Freud theorized that people are motivated by unconscious desires. To develop public relations, Bernays synthesized elements of Freud's work with Gustave Le Bon's research into crowd psychology, and Wilfred Trotter's theories of herd instinct... 

Bernays worked with Procter & Gamble for Ivory-brand bar soap. The campaign successfully convinced people that Ivory soap was medically superior to other soaps. He also promoted soap through sculpting contests and floating contests because the soap floated better than its competitors.

From a Wikipedia article about public relations. Click or copy and paste: 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_relations_campaigns_of_Edward_Bernays