Advertising
Advertising has been part of the American economy for some time. Over that time advertising has grown significantly from a single page ad with one black and white photo to today's million dollar multi-media campaigns, including TV and magazine adds designed specifically to make you want to buy what everyone is selling. At the heart of every advertising campaign is a sales pitch which is obvious. Beginning in the 50's advertisers were looking at all available techniques to get their product sold. This included a very new and untested broadcasting method called subliminal projection. The idea of using an individual's subliminal perception was a direct result of research in the 50's concerning the human subconscious and how it is effected by the world around us. One man in particular would try to use the subconscious to communicate directly with people's minds without them even knowing it. The term subliminal messages was born and the use of these messages has risen in the ranks of advertisers wanting to sell their products with increased results. In 1957 a new scare came into the public spotlight. This scare was given the name subliminal advertising by the father of this new technique, James
Key went so far as to say that the advertising industry has spent millions of dollars on these so called 'embeds', but Key could never produce any proof that companies were deliberately creating them. In the traditional sense, subconscious perception involves images, colors and shapes that are automatically picked up by the mind without the individual knowing it consciously. When the subjects to be shown the subliminals are not primed, in advance, the results have been inconclusive to the point that "subliminal technologies have turned up no evidence of a subliminal persuasion effect" (Fallacy 1). All are suggestions that subliminal messages are not dead. (Hidden 2) Aldous was one of many thousands of people who didn't approve of companies freely testing their subliminal messages on them. Until a conclusive experiment can be accomplished that details the effects of subliminal messages on the human mind there will still be hard core believers who will watch, and those who will even create, subliminal messages for those willing to use them. " And "The whole affair was much ado about nothing" (Vicary 1). The theory behind subliminal messages started with the scientific discovery of a different type of perception for individuals. The title itself came from Key's description of a Howard Johnson's table mat that Key saw as "blatant suggestions of group sex and bestiality - little people and animals writhing around in ecstasy" (Embeds 2). James Vicary put it best when he described subliminal images as "a mild form of advertising" and "a very weak persuader" (Wash 1). Others examples include the words "all good teenagers take off your clothes" (Survives 1) spoken in the film Aladdin, as well as an erection in one of the characters in The Little Mermaid. The plaintiffs were parent's of two boys that attempted suicide after listening to the 1978 Judas Priest album Stained Class in which the words "Do it" supposedly were heard subconsciously. The further reckless testing by companies on the public brought concern from many people. Examples of subliminal messages are images flashed on a movie screen at a incredibly fast rate such as 1/300 of a second or audio that is played below the level of the music or talk that is masking it. The claimed results of the test according to Vicary was that cola sales improved by 18% while popcorn sales rose an amazing 58%.
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Acceptance Essays
