Subliminal Messages
Have you ever seen or heard a commercial and then suddenly had an urge for something? Your urge may have been the result of subliminal messaging. "Subliminal messaging" can be defined as a technique of projecting information below an individual's threshold of sensation or awareness (The Subliminal Scares: "FCC Information Bulletin on Subliminals" 1). These messages were everywhere from radio broadcasts to Disney movies to commercials. "In 1958, a survey taken by Ralph Hauber showed that out of 42 people interviewed: 50 percent thought of subliminal messages to be unethical and 50 percent thought of them as unethical" (The Subliminal Scares: "Hidden Persuasion" 4). I feel that these messages are extremely unethical and the messages are taking away people's privacy. The man responsible for inventing subliminals is James Vicary. This man used social science and psychology to develop a new method to promote sales. It took a lot of in depth research and patience to develop a new way of advertising, but Vicary developed a method no one will ever forget (The Subliminal Scares: "Hidden Persuasion" 1-2). In 1957, Vicary announced that he had designed a subliminal projection machine, which was capable of flashing unnoti
ceable messages during big-screen movies (The Subliminal Scares: "Hidden Persuasion 2"). When people were introduced to these unnoticeable messages they all basically asked the same question: "What's the point? Why advertise something when you can't see what it is?" The point is very simple. Let's say that the subliminal message, "Eat nachos", is flashed during a movie you are watching. You may not have wanted nachos before, but now you have a sudden craving for them. Since it was a "subliminal message" you were not able to see it. However, you subconsciously read the message. This method may be useful to advertisers, but it is harmful to the viewers of the ad. The very first experiment using subliminals took place in Fort Lee, New Jersey in 1956. It took place in a movie theater during the movie "Picnic." " The words 'Drink Coca-Cola' and 'Hungry? Buy popcorn' were flashed periodically using Vicary's machine. As a result, there was an increase of 18 percent in the sales of Coca-Cola and a 58 percent increase in popcorn" (The Subliminal Scares: "Hidden Persuasion" 3). The results of this experiment baffled millions of people, but this technique, they thought was assaulting people's minds. As you can see, right from the start, this method was controversial. After the Fort Lee experiment, many other people wanted to try this subliminal advertising. In 1958, many radio stations began experimenting with it. One particular radio station, WAAF - Chicago, tried to use a subliminal during a song. The disc jockeys pre-recorded barely audible phrases designated as 'Phantom spots.' These phrases were faded under musical recordings or dropped into pauses in the DJs' dialogue in quick low voices (The Subliminal Scares: "FCC Information Bulletin" 4). This experiment failed because listeners heard the phrases.
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1504
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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