Aap! - Alternative Advertising Possibilities

Today we’re exploring the controversial world of subliminal advertising with an over of recent me examples in practice across different media in hopes of determining if its effective, ethical and productive.

First a definition from Wikipedia:

“A subliminal message is a signal or message embedded in another object, designed to pass below the normal limits of perception. These messages are indiscernible to the conscious mind, but are alleged to be perceptible to the subconscious or deeper mind: for example, an image transmitted so briefly that it is only perceived subconsciously, but not otherwise noticed. Subliminal techniques have occasionally been used in advertising and propaganda; the purpose, effectiveness and frequency of such techniques is debated.” (Wikipedia)

So where does it fit in the world of advertising?

Lets move to a well known historical example:

DRINK COKE! - EAT POPCORN

“Perhaps the most widely known claim was made in 1957 by James Vicary, a market researcher. He claimed that over a six-week period, 45,699 patrons at a movie theater in Fort Lee, New Jersey were shown two advertising messages, Eat Popcorn and Drink Coca-Cola, while they watched the film Picnic. According to Vicary, a message was flashed for 3/1000 of a second once every five seconds. The duration of the messages was so short that they were never consciously perceived. Despite the fact that the customers were not aware of perceiving the messages, Vicary claimed that over the six-week period the sales of popcorn rose 57.7% and the sales of Coca-Cola rose 18.1%.”

Vicary’s claims led to a public outcry, and to many conspiracy theories of governments and cults using the technique to their advantage. The practice of subliminal advertising was subsequently banned in the United Kingdom, and Australia, but not formally in the United States (actions were taken by the National Association of Broadcasters in 1958.

In 1973, Wilson Bryan Key’s book Subliminal Seduction claimed that subliminal techniques were widely used in advertising. The book contributed to a general climate of fear with regard to Orwellian dangers of subliminal messaging. Public concern was sufficient to cause the FCC to hold hearings in 1974, which resulted in a declaration stating that subliminal advertising was “contrary to the public interest”, and in the aforementioned ban.” (Source: wikipedia)

Aside from being subliminal - this is an amazing example of a viral campaign. Fueling the 1960 fears of subliminal advertising - the project led to bans of subliminal advertising in Canada, the UK and elsewhere.

Banned but still used!

Let explore some recent examples of subliminal advertising used to influence consumers and viewers:

Sex always sells!

Common claims is that the word sex is often embedded in products and advertisements. For example, Wilson Bryan in Subliminal Seduction claimed that the word sex was printed on Ritz crackers and was embedded in the ice cubes of the drink shown in a well-known ad for Gilbeyâ??s Gin. According to Key, despite the fact the embedded words are not consciously perceived, they are unconsciously perceived and can elicit sexual arousal which in turn makes the products more attractive to consumers.

Consumer Backlash - the case of the The Pepsi Cool Can

“In 1990, Pepsi actually withdrew one of its â??Cool Canâ?? designs after someone protested that Pepsi was subliminally manipulating people by designing the cans such that when six-packs were stacked at grocery stores, the word SEX would emerge from the seemingly random design. Critics alleged that the red and blue lines on the â??Cool Canâ?? design were far from random. (Source)

Tobacco companies have also been the target of accusations of visual embeds. One common alleged embed of sexually suggestive imagery is on the standard pack of Camel cigarettes. Apparently, if you look closely enough at the front leg of the camel on the cigarette pack, you can see an image of a naked man standing tall facing the camel with an erect penis.”

Subliminal Slot Machines

Recently in Ontario Canada, the provincial gambling operator pulled 87 video slot machines out of service or physically removed them from its casinos after an investigation found what appear to be subliminal messages flashing at players.

The game flashes winning jackpot symbols at players for a fifth of a second, long enough for the brain to detect even if the players are not aware of the message. While not clear if the jackpot flashing was intended or not; whether there was a positive or negative effect - game body of Ontario has decided to pull the games from Casino floors.

McDonalds Explores Subliminal Advertising on Cable Television

This YouTube video clip reveals an example of subliminal advertising that a viewer found on the Food Network during a broadcast of Iron Chef America. The ad, which is for McDonald’s, is only about one frame of film long, but is still noticeable to the conscious mind as a red flash on the screen.

Of course, it could have been a broadcasting glitch and not a purposefully placed advertisement. But that might just be what they want you to think…

Spammers and Subliminal Advertising

From a leading anti-spam software firm: “Experts at SophosLabsâ?¢, Sophos’s global network of virus, spyware and spam analysis centers, have identified a “pump-and-dump” stock spam campaign which uses an animated graphic to display a “subliminal” message to potential investors.

In a spam campaign seen by Sophos researchers an embedded image attempts to artificially inflate the price of shares in a company called Trimax. However, unlike the many other similar scam emails the graphic briefly flashes up a message saying “BUY!!!” approximately every fifteen seconds.

The “BUY!!!” message is comparable to the subliminal messages that have occasionally been used in advertising and political broadcasts to try and subconsciously influence people. (Source)

More examples:

Subliminal Advertising - Ice Cream Commercial

But does Subliminal Advertising work?

From Wikipedia we also learn “Vicary’s claims on the power of subliminal advertising” are often accepted as established facts. However, Vicary never released a detailed description of his study and there has never been any independent evidence to support his claims. Also, in an interview with Advertising Age in 1962, Vicary stated that the original study was a fabrication. The weight of the evidence suggests that it was indeed a fabrication.”

Worse for advertising using the medium from the Center of Interactive Advertising we learn:

1. Subliminal stimuli are usually so weak that they are not perceived by observers, and even if they are, they are usually nullified by other, strong stimuli present at the same time.
2. People are very much in control of their own overt responses to stimuli, and hence, even if they perceive subliminal stimuli, they can screen out any attempts to effect undesired behavior.

Despite the overall lack of empirical evidence showing that subliminal advertising may be effective, a large percentage of consumers still believe firms use subliminal advertising to enhance sales, and various surveys have demonstrated fairly widespread public acceptance of the notion of subliminal advertising.

With the recent examples of Konami’s flashing slot machine and the Pump and Dump Scammers - maybe sinister advertisers are still exploring its potential.

Next week we’ll explore how to make your own subliminal adverts!

But for now we recommend the following indepth book on the topic:

The Secret Sales Pitch by August Bullock

Does subliminal advertising really exist? Bullock makes a convincing argument that subliminal advertising is alive and well and part of our every day life. He begins with the history of subliminal advertising and carries us through the 50â??s to the present in a logical and thought provoking book. Photographs, illustrations and explanations make the concepts easy to understand. Some of the images can be disturbing, shocking or just plain silly and some of his conclusions seem obvious while others are a bit of stretch. You will never look at ads in the same way again. Can you read the secret message on the white portion of the book cover?