From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A subliminal message is a signal or message designed to pass below the normal limits of perception. For example, it might be inaudible to the conscious mind (but audible to the subconscious or deeper mind) or might be an image transmitted briefly, yet perceived unconsciously. In the everyday world, some have claimed that subliminal techniques are used in advertising and propaganda.

The term subliminal message was popularized in 1917 when the draft was going to happen in America for World War I. The Government would sneak messages into songs and would put subliminal messages in posters trying to get people to join the army.

James Vicary, a market researcher, claimed in 1957 that by quickly flashing messages "drink Coca-Cola" and "eat popcorn" on a movie screen it would influence people to purchase more food and drink. This led to a public outcry and many conspiracy theories of governments and cults using the technique for their advantage and the practice was banned in the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States. In 1962 Vicary admitted that he fabricated the entire incident (Boese 2002:137-38).

In 1973, Wilson Bryan Key's book Subliminal Seduction claimed that subliminal techniques were in wide use in advertising. The book contributed to a general climate of fear with regard to Orwellian dangers of subliminal messaging. Public concern was enough to lead the Federal Communications Commission to hold hearings and to declare subliminal advertising "contrary to the public interest".

Subliminal perception or cognition, can be considered a subset of unconscious cognition where the forms of unconscious cognition also include attending to one signal in a noisy environment while unconsciously keeping track of other signals (e.g. one voice out of many in a crowded room) and tasks done automatically.

An important question about subliminal perception is: How much of the unattended or unconscious signal or message is perceived? That is, is the whole message sensed and fully digested or perhaps only its main and simpler features? There are at least two schools of thought about this. One of them argues that only the simpler features of unconscious signals could be perceived. The second school of thought argues that unconscious cognition is comprehensive and that much more is perceived than can be verbalized.

Various types of studies of subliminal perception have been conducted. The findings of recent studies demonstrate that subliminal stimuli can influence behavior and subsequent perceptions but it is as yet unclear how these results may generalize to real world settings (disputed — see talk page). A related field is the question of whether anaesthetized patients are completely unaware whilst apparently completely asleep/unconscious.

Proponents of the power of subliminal messages claim they gain influence or power from the fact that they circumvent the critical functions of the conscious mind, and therefore subliminal suggestions are potentially more powerful than ordinary suggestions. This route to influence or persuasion would be akin to auto-suggestion or hypnosis wherein the subject is encouraged to be (or somehow induced to be) relaxed so that suggestions are directed to deeper (more gullible) parts of the mind; some observers have argued that the unconscious mind is incapable of critical refusal of hypnotic or subliminal suggestions.

A form of subliminal messaging commonly believed to exist involves the insertion of "hidden" messages into movies and TV programs.

In 1978, Wichita, Kansas TV station KAKE-TV received special permission from the police to place a subliminal message in a report on the BTK Killer in an effort to get him to turn himself in. The image, which appeared for a split second, showed a pair of glasses (an image thought to hold significance to him) and text that read "Now call the chief." The attempt was unsuccessful, and police reported no increased volume of calls afterward; though the killer was eventually caught in 2005.

Before the re-election of French president François Mitterrand in 1988, a subliminal picture of him was mixed in the title sequence of French national television daily news show, and it appeared for several consecutive days.

During the 2000 U.S. presidential campaign, a television ad campaigning for Republican candidate George W. Bush showed words (and parts thereof) scaling from the foreground to the background on a television screen. When the word BUREAUCRATS flashed on the screen, one frame showed only the last part, RATS. Democrats promptly asked the FCC to look into the matter, but no penalties were ever assessed in the case. The effect this had on the overall presidential race was unclear. The Democrats and Al Gore received ridicule for finding malicious intent in something that could have been a simple mistake; the Republicans received ridicule for the lack of attention to detail and Bush's mispronunciation of "subliminal" (it came out as "subliminable").

Another instance of subliminal advertising revolves around commercials for the game Hūsker Dū? which flashed the message 'Get it', in the United States and Canada, prompting a furor.

In 1982, Mark Lindsey, a graduate of Virginia Tech submitted an entry for an addition to be built to the University of Virginia's football stadium. Lindsey realized that the stadium was in the shape of a "v" and promptly designed the new addition in the shape of the letter "t" to make the logo of the Virginia Tech Hokies. UVA officials were unaware that the design was a tribute to their in-state rival and picked Lindsey's plan. The addition was built in 1985 but replaced in 1999 after UVA officials discovered Lindsey's message.

PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) is also the scene of a running battle with PETCO, a pet food retailer in San Diego, for several years regarding the purported mistreatment of live animals at PETCO stores. When the Padres announced that PETCO (which is based in San Diego) had obtained naming rights to PETCO Park, PETA was unable to persuade the Padres to terminate the agreement. Hence PETA used subliminal advertising in the form of an acrostic. It successfully purchased a brick with what appears on the surface to be a complimentary message: "Break Open Your Cold Ones! Toast The Padres! Enjoy This Championship Organization!" However, if one takes the first letters of each word, the resulting acrostic reads "BOYCOTT PETCO". Neither PETCO nor the Padres have taken any action to remove the brick, stating that if someone walked by, they would not know it had anything to do with the PETA/PETCO feud.

The British illusionist Derren Brown recently performed an example of subliminal messaging to an audience of celebrities which revealed afterwards they that had in fact forgotten what had happened to them in the two hours that they had been at the show. This was achieved by flashing up the word "forget" at certain points and also through conveniently placed loud noises. In another example of subliminal messaging, Brown has an advert shown prior to the screening of a movie with the phrase "forget the movie" inserted within. Upon leaving the cinema, some audience members are completely unable to recall anything about the movie which they have just spent the last two hours watching (it was Ocean's 12) and demand to know why this was.