Subliminal Messaging In The Media

Subliminal messaging officially began in 1897 allowing advertisers and the media to slip information into our subconscious often without us being aware of it. Every day our conscious and subconscious are bombarded with images which can affect the way we feel. Television has been described as the largest tool for mass hypnosis. There are a number of ways in which messages are used through sight and sound. These include sex in promotional artwork, auditory repetition of brand names and manipulation of language in political broadcasting.

Backmasking is a technique whereby a song or piece of music has a different meaning when played backwards. Some say that The Beatles were masters of backmasking but I disagree. I am very sceptical and believe that some people with nothing better to do looked for controversy in the Beatles music. Other musicians who are said to have backmasked their songs include Britney Spears, Hannah Montana and Eifel Sixty-five.

1. Political subliminal messages. In an anti Al Gore statement the opposition emphasized the ‘rats’ in the word ‘democrats’. As the topic was medicine it made me think of animal testing.

Look at this cover of The Simpsons made before the September the 11^th bombings. Was it purely coincidental that they chose 9 dollars with a backdrop of the twin towers representing an 11? Or is somebody trying to put across a sinister coded message?

2. Subliminals in advertising. My friend and I were in the Co-op and happened to see this packet of Black farmer sausages. Just look at where the arrow is on the packaging. Soon after, the design was changed and the arrow was moved down. Had whoever designed them tried to be racist? or perhaps complimentary towards coloured people, or was it just a coincidence?

In 957 market researcher James Vicary created a movie called ‘Picnic’. In his theatre in New Jersey he showed the movie to 45,000 people. The text based messages ‘eat popcorn’ and ‘drink Cola were displayed once every 3 100ths of a second. His findings were that sales of popcorn rose by 57% and Cola by 18%. Critics claimed the findings were inconclusive.