subliminal advertising - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

AquaFox · 12-12-2004, 09:15 PM

do you believe it???

like keyes once said... the brain takes in everything, but your consious self doesn't get it... like a ad can have 'u-buy' written upside down in ice-cubes and your brain will register it and you will make you want to buy it...

do you believe in real subliminal messages like this??

i'll post my opinions later

for the people who know anything about this... it's regarding the works of william brian keyes... and that clam plate orgy book

djtestudo · 12-12-2004, 10:08 PM

Smoke...smoke...ya smokin' yet?

I do think it's possible, but I don't know to what extent.

cybersharp · 12-12-2004, 10:38 PM

Of course...subliminal advertising works....

Why do you think people make red products?

They are just tricks....The trick about red products is that red catches the eye...thus drawing your eye to product you might not of wanted or paid any attention to.

flstf · 12-12-2004, 11:43 PM

I remember reading about a study done years ago where movie theatres flashed picture frames of messages that tend to make one thirsty or hungry, faster than than one could conciously register. The soft drink and popcorn sales supposedly went way up.

This study has been largely refuted:

http://www.snopes.com/business/hidden/popcorn.asp

Quote:

Public awareness of what we now term "subliminal advertising" began with the 1957 publication of Vance Packard's book, The Hidden Persuaders. Although Packard did not use the term "subliminal advertising," he did describe many of the new "motivational research" marketing techniques being employed to sell products in the burgeoning post-war American market. Advertisements that focused on consumers' hopes, fears, guilt, and sexuality were designed to persuade them to buy products they'd never realized they needed. Marketers who could reach into the hearts and minds of American consumers soon found consumers' wallets to be within easy grasp as well.

It was James Vicary who coined the term "subliminal advertising." Vicary had conducted a variety of unusual studies of female shopping habits, discovering (among other things) that women's eye-blink rates dropped significantly in supermarkets, that "psychological spring" lasts more than twice as long as "psychological winter," and that "the experience of a woman baking a cake could be likened to a woman giving birth." Vicary's studies were largely forgettable, save for one experiment he conducted at a Ft. Lee, New Jersey movie theater during the summer of 1957. Vicary placed a tachistoscope in the theater's projection booth, and all throughout the playing of the film Picnic, he flashed a couple of different messages on the screen every five seconds. The messages each displayed for only 1/3000th of a second at a time, far below the viewers' threshold of conscious perceptibility. The result of displaying these imperceptible suggestions -- "Drink Coca-Cola" and "Hungry? Eat Popcorn" -- was an amazing 18.1% increase in Coca-Cola sales, and a whopping 57.8% jump in popcorn purchases. Thus was demonstrated the awesome power of "subliminal advertising" to coerce unwary buyers into making purchases they would not otherwise have considered.

Or so goes the legend that has retained its potency for more than forty years. So potent a legend, in fact, that the Federal Communications Commission banned "subliminal advertising" from radio and television airwaves in 1974, despite that fact that no studies have ever shown it to be effective, and even though its alleged efficacy was based on a fraud.

You see, Vicary lied about the results of his experiment. When he was challenged to repeat the test by the president of the Psychological Corporation, Dr. Henry Link, Vicary's duplication of his original experiment produced no significant increase in popcorn or Coca-Cola sales. Eventually Vicary confessed that he had falsified the data from his first experiments, and some critics have since expressed doubts that he actually conducted his infamous Ft. Lee experiment at all.

As usual, the media (and thereby the public) paid attention only to the sensational original story, and the scant coverage given to Vicary's later confession was ignored or quickly forgotten. Radio and television stations began airing subliminal commercials, leading to two congressional bills to ban the practice being introduced in 1958 and 1959 (both of which died before being voted upon). In 1973, Dr. Wilson B. Key picked up where Vicary left off, publishing Subliminal Seduction, an indictment of modern advertisements filled with hidden messages and secret symbols -- messages and symbols that only Dr. Key could discern (including the notorious example of the word "S-E-X" spelled out in the ice cubes pictured in a liquor advertisement). The old "subliminal advertising" controversy was stirred up again by Dr. Key's book, leading to the 24 January 1974 announcement by the FCC that subliminal techniques, "whether effective or not," were "contrary to the public interest," and that any station employing them risked losing its broadcast license.

For neither the first nor the last time, a great deal of time and money and effort was expended on "protecting" the public from something that posed no danger to them. As numerous studies over the last few decades have demonstrated, subliminal advertising doesn't work; in fact, it never worked, and the whole premise was based on a lie from the very beginning. James Vicary's legacy was to ensure that a great many people will never be convinced otherwise, however

.

Ishmal · 12-12-2004, 11:51 PM

anyone seen "Fight Club???"

i, like djtestudo, belive it is possible... but to what extent im not sure.

skier · 12-13-2004, 12:26 AM

Though snopes seems to have refuted it, there has to be SOME benefit to subliminal adverstising, and I say this because in an attack ad on Al Gore's Health Care proposal, The word "RATS" was flashed across the screen in large capital letters- it was discovered, but if subliminal advertising was so ineffective, why did Bush use it at what seems great risk? I believe there is more to this than meets the eye.

MacGuyver · 12-13-2004, 01:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by djtestudo

Smoke...smoke...ya smokin' yet?

EXCELLENT! so i wasnt the only one who thought of family guy before everything else!

ARTelevision · 12-13-2004, 07:24 AM

Keyes defines this in a very restricted and questionable manner.

I see the subject in a broader perspective. See this thread for an extended discussion on the subject as it has evolved here:

http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/showthr...ass+media+mind

AquaFox · 12-13-2004, 09:55 AM

on the lines of my the defintion of subliminal, it excludes suggestive advertizing and imitation by role model

and in the quote of 'flstf' up above... subliminal advertizing is the "s - e -x" spelled out inside ice-cubes

is there any proof at all that this works?

people spend lots of time searching though ads looking for things that could be subliminal and pass it around.... then the ad goes though classrooms and over the internet as people discuss it... which increases product sales, which can be attributed to the "sublinminal powers"

Master_Shake · 12-13-2004, 11:10 AM

Anybody remember "They Live"? That had great subliminal messages under all the advertisements.

Sleep.
Work 8 hours, sleep 8 hours, play 8 hours.
Consume.
Obey.

That movie was great.

I think there was one like;

Procreate.

or maybe;

Marry and procreate.

Just great stuff.

ARTelevision · 12-13-2004, 11:20 AM

They Live is a masterpiece!

jonjon42 · 12-13-2004, 05:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cybersharp

Of course...subliminal advertising works....

Why do you think people make red products?

They are just tricks....The trick about red products is that red catches the eye...thus drawing your eye to product you might not of wanted or paid any attention to.

just ask Milton and his red swing line stapler...

"I believe you have my stapler"
http://www.swingline.com/html/5980.html

Cadwiz · 12-13-2004, 05:24 PM

I would think that subliminal advertising might work on the same type as hypnotism. I don't believe I am one of those type of person. I rarely get the urge to do anything but turn the channel when a commercial comes on.

Coppertop · 12-13-2004, 05:30 PM

AquaFox · 12-13-2004, 09:30 PM

we all see these examples now... but is there any proof that it works??

JohnnyRoyale · 12-14-2004, 09:07 AM

Half the time, I don't even think those are examples we're seeing..The human mind has a tendency to "see" patterns, and to group items and events. This will happen even if there really isn't a pattern. Not to say that some advertisers aren't beyond trying to suggest things, anyway, just in case:

http://www.poleshift.org/sublim/egs/...gestions2.html

TexanAvenger · 12-14-2004, 01:14 PM

I think that subliminal adverstising is around and does work, but I think all they really have to do is suggest an idea and let your brain fill in the rest. I think "u-buy" even upside-down seems kind of blunt. It'd be much more effective to put in words like "sex" and "power," words that appeal to base instincts.

CSflim · 12-14-2004, 02:58 PM

I think all advertising is "subliminal", but perhaps not in the sense that you mean.

You see happy/sexy/powerful/sucessful people in advertisements using such and such a product. Do you actually say to yourself "Oh look at that person, that could be me if only I had that product"? No, of course not! Nobody actually believes what they see in advertisements! We know they are only false images presented to us. We aren't that gullible!
...yet we still buy the product?

It is in this sense that advertising is subliminal, not by flickering up words, or playing sounds backwards. It is done by presenting to us an image, which is stored in the back of our minds and becomes associated with a particular product.

12-12-2004, 09:15 PM	#1 (permalink)
AquaFox WaterDog	subliminal advertising do you believe it??? like keyes once said... the brain takes in everything, but your consious self doesn't get it... like a ad can have 'u-buy' written upside down in ice-cubes and your brain will register it and you will make you want to buy it... do you believe in real subliminal messages like this?? i'll post my opinions later for the people who know anything about this... it's regarding the works of william brian keyes... and that clam plate orgy book __________________ ...AquaFox...

12-12-2004, 10:08 PM	#2 (permalink)
djtestudo Baltimoron Location: Beeeeeautiful Bel Air, MD	Smoke...smoke...ya smokin' yet? I do think it's possible, but I don't know to what extent. __________________ "Final thought: I just rented Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine. Frankly, it was the worst sports movie I've ever seen." --Peter Schmuck, The (Baltimore) Sun

12-12-2004, 10:38 PM	#3 (permalink)
cybersharp Insane	Of course...subliminal advertising works.... Why do you think people make red products? They are just tricks....The trick about red products is that red catches the eye...thus drawing your eye to product you might not of wanted or paid any attention to. __________________ 0PtIcAl

12-12-2004, 11:51 PM	#5 (permalink)
Ishmal Wicked Clown Location: House Of Horrors	anyone seen "Fight Club???" i, like djtestudo, belive it is possible... but to what extent im not sure. __________________ "Despite the high cost of living, it remains popular."

12-13-2004, 12:26 AM	#6 (permalink)
skier Rawr! Location: Edmontania	Though snopes seems to have refuted it, there has to be SOME benefit to subliminal adverstising, and I say this because in an attack ad on Al Gore's Health Care proposal, The word "RATS" was flashed across the screen in large capital letters- it was discovered, but if subliminal advertising was so ineffective, why did Bush use it at what seems great risk? I believe there is more to this than meets the eye. __________________ "Asking a bomb squad if an old bomb is still "real" is not the best thing to do if you want to save it." - denim

12-13-2004, 07:24 AM	#8 (permalink)
ARTelevision I change Location: USA	Keyes defines this in a very restricted and questionable manner. I see the subject in a broader perspective. See this thread for an extended discussion on the subject as it has evolved here: http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/showthr...ass+media+mind __________________ create evolution

12-13-2004, 09:55 AM	#9 (permalink)
AquaFox WaterDog	on the lines of my the defintion of subliminal, it excludes suggestive advertizing and imitation by role model and in the quote of 'flstf' up above... subliminal advertizing is the "s - e -x" spelled out inside ice-cubes is there any proof at all that this works? people spend lots of time searching though ads looking for things that could be subliminal and pass it around.... then the ad goes though classrooms and over the internet as people discuss it... which increases product sales, which can be attributed to the "sublinminal powers" __________________ ...AquaFox...

12-13-2004, 11:10 AM	#10 (permalink)
Master_Shake Addict Location: Pennsylvania, USA	Anybody remember "They Live"? That had great subliminal messages under all the advertisements. Sleep. Work 8 hours, sleep 8 hours, play 8 hours. Consume. Obey. That movie was great. I think there was one like; Procreate. or maybe; Marry and procreate. Just great stuff. __________________ ------------- You know something, I don't think the sun even... exists... in this place. 'Cause I've been up for hours, and hours, and hours, and the night never ends here.

12-13-2004, 11:20 AM	#11 (permalink)
ARTelevision I change Location: USA	They Live is a masterpiece! __________________ create evolution

12-13-2004, 05:24 PM	#13 (permalink)
Cadwiz Insane Location: work	I would think that subliminal advertising might work on the same type as hypnotism. I don't believe I am one of those type of person. I rarely get the urge to do anything but turn the channel when a commercial comes on. __________________ Semper Fi

12-13-2004, 05:30 PM	#14 (permalink)
Coppertop Getting Medieval on your ass Location: 13th century Europe	Subtle Last edited by Coppertop; 12-13-2004 at 05:33 PM.. Reason: added second image

12-13-2004, 09:30 PM	#15 (permalink)
AquaFox WaterDog	we all see these examples now... but is there any proof that it works?? __________________ ...AquaFox...

12-14-2004, 09:07 AM	#16 (permalink)
JohnnyRoyale Psycho Location: Boston, MAss., USA	Half the time, I don't even think those are examples we're seeing..The human mind has a tendency to "see" patterns, and to group items and events. This will happen even if there really isn't a pattern. Not to say that some advertisers aren't beyond trying to suggest things, anyway, just in case: http://www.poleshift.org/sublim/egs/...gestions2.html __________________ I'm gonna be rich and famous, as soon I invent a device that lets you stab people in the face over the internet.

12-14-2004, 01:14 PM	#17 (permalink)
TexanAvenger Born-Again New Guy Location: Unfound.	I think that subliminal adverstising is around and does work, but I think all they really have to do is suggest an idea and let your brain fill in the rest. I think "u-buy" even upside-down seems kind of blunt. It'd be much more effective to put in words like "sex" and "power," words that appeal to base instincts.

12-14-2004, 02:58 PM	#18 (permalink)
CSflim Sky Piercer Location: Ireland	I think all advertising is "subliminal", but perhaps not in the sense that you mean. You see happy/sexy/powerful/sucessful people in advertisements using such and such a product. Do you actually say to yourself "Oh look at that person, that could be me if only I had that product"? No, of course not! Nobody actually believes what they see in advertisements! We know they are only false images presented to us. We aren't that gullible! ...yet we still buy the product? It is in this sense that advertising is subliminal, not by flickering up words, or playing sounds backwards. It is done by presenting to us an image, which is stored in the back of our minds and becomes associated with a particular product. __________________