Subliminal Advertising Controversy

This is a really interesting conspiracy idea. The crux of the theory is that advertisers are (or were) using it to make us subconsciously buy their products, politicians were using it to make people vote for them, and that it's being used to mind control us.

However, this is a very difficult subject to fathom because it's pseudo scientific.
First of all, there is some scientific validity to the idea of subliminal stimuli. The term 'subliminal' means below threshold. In other words it is sensory stimuli that affects a human without the human realizing it. There are regions in the brain that are sensitive to this type of stimuli. The real question is: how effective is this concept. A lot of research has gone into trying to determine if subliminal suggestion would actually work.

The main reason this is a controversy is the fact that subliminal messaging on TV was revealed and it caused a flurry of complaints. People assumed that it was being used to make us buy specific products without us realizing it.

The main problem with subliminal stimuli is trying to understand the threshold and the effectiveness of the concept. According to the theory the images and vocals must be below what we normally could sense. Audio stimuli must be below what you would normally hear. I don't know how they figure this because hearing ability varies all over the spectrum. Some people, usually young children and teens, hear higher frequencies more easily than us oldsters. Video stimuli would have to be displayed quick enough for us not to see it. This would have to be displayed below the persistence of vision, or they would have to use the idea of masking. In masking, which is displaying a masking image before the prime image, viewers see the mask and ignore the prime image.

The definition of visual subliminal stimuli dictates that the hidden message must be displayed quickly enough so that the conscious mind doesn't apprehend it. Supposedly, this concept goes back to 1957 when it was used in a drive-in theater (Fort Lee, New Jersey) to get people to buy food and drink. However, this is regarded as urban legend.

However, a lot of research has been done on this psychological concept, and it has been used commercially. One concept of subliminal stimuli is PVHD, Peripheral Vision Horizon Display, which is actually used in cockpits to help pilots maintain altitude by projecting a fine horizontal line over the cockpit instruments. In other words it helps the pilot keep the plane level.

Optical illusion is a part of subliminal messaging. This is where what we see isn't what we think it is. Magicians use this technique all of the time to fool us into thinking that they can do things that are impossible. But, this uses distraction to keep the viewers' eyes away from the actual trick. I wouldn't lump this concept in with subliminal stimuli.

Subliminal stimuli involve more than displaying images that you don't see but your mind registers. It also has to do with symbols and subtle facial expressions. Many times it consists of a message in the background, or it's something that very small and insignificant. The problem with this is that the average person never sees or perceives the hidden message unless they scrutinize the image carefully. Who does that?

There is a Facebook page devoted to this idea. That figures!

There are plenty of incidences where subliminal suggestion was supposedly possible and effective. It has reportedly been used to put hidden messages in music, which can only be revealed if the song is played backwards. Supposedly, the BBC used it to change people's attitudes toward radio. In 1979 there were anti-theft messages in Musak (background music in elevators and department stores) to decrease crime. Two boys committed suicide because of subliminal messages in Judas Priest's song 'Do it'.  I'm sure you've heard of many more cases like this. I believe that many of these reports are urban legend.

Other notorious examples are in Google's logo. There have been all sorts of advertising subliminal secrets in famous movies, supposedly causing people to run to the lobby to buy the goodies. Personally, I would stay in my seat . . . unless I was hungry. There have been many hidden objects in Disney movies and cartoons; most of these were promoting other Disney movies. In some cases they were naughty. Good grief, is nothing sacred anymore?

What the dilemma is with subliminal stimuli is that it has been shown to be effective, especially with patients with neurological damage. Much of this is caused by a predisposed attitude toward the stimuli, and this may be the reason that subliminal stimuli are believed by many to be effective.

But, is subliminal messaging actually effective? The answer is no. None of it has been proven to be effective. Are there subliminal messages hidden in advertising, videos and music? Yes, but I don't care. My mind is already made up!

Thanks for reading.