This page includes my views on subliminal perception, and links to other sites.
My writings are in black. Plagiarized text is in maroon, sometimes highlighted by me in red.
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. . . My opinion about subliminal perception
. . . Art _____ Audio _____ Clouds _____ Copyright images _____ The Disney Embeds
. . . Image projection _____ John F. Kennedy assassination film (by Zapruder) _____ Wilson Bryan Key
. . . Legal aspects _____ Moving images _____ Optical illusions _____ Overview
. . . Photosensitivity _____ Pranks _____ Radio and TV subliminals _____ Religion _____ Research
. . . Skepticism _____ Stereograms _____ Still images _____ The Exorcist
. . . Links: various _____ Visual sex embeds _____ Voice of GodWindows xx
. . . My opinion about subliminal perception
Psychologists have known for many years that there are ways in which the body and mind can sense a stimulus that is not always consciously perceived. A summary of five temporal stages of perception is listed below. It was the book Subliminal Seduction in 1973 by Wilson Bryan Key, however, that first brought to the attention of the public at large the possibility that advertisers might be embedding words or images in advertisements intended to influence the reader. (See Wilson Bryan Key.) These symbols, called embeds, were alleged to be of a forbidden nature, usually involving sex or death. The intention was that they were not to be consciously perceived, but would be recognized on an unconscious level, and would presumably influence one to choose a particular product or brand over a similar one of a competitor. This book created rather a sensation of public interest -- particularly in light of Key's thesis that such embeds were being used in a sophisticated way and on a large scale by many advertisers. That book was followed by Media Sexploitation in 1976 and The Clam-Plate Orgy And Other Subliminal Techniques for Manipulating your Behavior in 1980.
I read Subliminal Seduction with great interest when it was first published. I recall staring at its examples of such images, and at any magazine that I could get my hands on in an effort (not always successful) to discern such embeds. Key's thesis that such methods were being used in this way was tempting to believe; however, I had some reservations, as follows:
(a) Why should one presume that a taboo symbol or image would have the alleged effect of influencing a person one way or another? Furthermore, why would an embedded word such as SEX be all that taboo anymore? Granted, there were more explicit sexual (and satanic?) images to be seen -- or imagined?
(b) How powerful would the effect be? If a thirsty person entered a cafe on a blistering day, would this influence be strong enough to have him order a Coca-Cola instead of a Pepsi? Could it be even stronger and nudge him toward ordering a 7-Up instead of a Pepsi? If he just asked for a coffee instead, would the whole theory be just shot to pieces? (I cannot resist adding a perhaps little-known fact. If you were not only thirsty, but feeling very warm and wanted to cool down, which woud be preferable -- a cold soft drink, or a hot coffee? Correct answer: a hot coffee. The increase in your internal body temperature caused by the drink will signal your heat-radiation system (skin pores, etc.) to change in such a way as to get rid of more heat. The cold soft drink will "tell" them to clam up and preserve heat. Just one more example of why common sense is often wrong! How many people do you see drinking hot coffee on a hot day?)
(c) Given the many thousands of people involved in the ad industry, not all of them happy, and some of whom might be tempted to make an extra dollar, why has no insider come out and presented a grand expose of this presumed perfidy?
In summary, it seemed to me that the effect of subliminal perception was real enough. It just did not seem to me that it would be powerful enough to make much difference in people's choices. Furthermore, I did not expect that the ad industry would either try to do such things on a large scale (call me too-too innocent!) or that, if they did, that they could get away with it for very long until some insider blew the whistle. Another deterrent is that the client firms often have their own codes of ethics which might preclude such manipulation -- out of consideration for either high ethical standards or out of the less lofty motive of pragmatic business sense.
I soon proceeded to loan a book by the world expert in subliminal perception, Prof. N.F. Dixon: Dixon, N. F. (1971). Subliminal perception: The nature of a controversy. London, England: McGraw Hill. (See Skepticism.) As it was not available in the Ottawa library system, it was obtained through Interlibrary Loan -- from, as it happened -- the Library of Queen's University. I noted that the book had last been loaned out to an inmate in the Kingston Penitentiary! If that wasn't an auspicious omen, I know not what is! It is a very detailed book, citing many studies and experiments. Its conclusion was basically the same as mine: the effects are real, but are too weak in practice to influence one very much.
My comments so far have related to embeds that are not consciously perceived. Some of them, when perceived, may or may not be subtle. Do those glistening ice cubes in the gin ad really portray a sex orgy? When you look up at clouds, what fantastic castles in the sky can you imagine that you see? In the mid 1970s the Canada Radio and Television Commission (CRTC) held hearings in Hull, PQ, (and in other cities, I think), as to the possible need to regulate the use of subliminal messages in radio and TV broadcasting. My initial thought at the time was: who is going to detect such embeds? How are they to be detected? I have searched the Web in vain for a record of those hearings. The basic conclusion from them was that it would be impractical to detect and regulate them. It was further pointed out that some such images might be purely coincidental. After all, do two people "see" the same thing in an ink-blot test?
A further category of the use of subliminal images is that of the use of what is ordinarily open for conscious observation, but which might not be noticed by the casual observer. It is known, for example, that, in several scenes in the movie "The African Queen", some vegetation and flowers in the background appear to have been purposely portrayed as being drooping -- adding a semi-conscious accent to the mood of stifling heat and a depressed emotional atmosphere -- thus heightening the emotive impact of the scene. One can readily imagine many other legitimate uses of such cues in the arts in general.
Art artist fineart gallery: http://www.angelfire.com/biz2/briansgallery/ WOLFOREST is a limited edition print with a subliminal image of a wolf, can you find it?
Canadian Landscape Artthe earth cries out Brians Gallery: http://www.angelfire.com/biz3/artistbriansgallery/one.html This acrylic painting is titled "THE EARTH CRIES OUT" also has a subliminal image which makes a statement about our environment, and what man is doing by cutting too much forest down . . . can you see the image?
Erotic Traveler Books - erotic art: http://www.erotictraveler.com/books/art.html Erotic Art Collections.
A trilogy part 01, John Lennon: http://www.hypervue.com/CHAP01/CHAP01.HTM a four dimensional odyssey in stereo portraiture. A cross freevue 3-D experience w / subliminal ImageStories®
Leonardo On-Line Spurious Images Bibliography: http://www-mitpress.mit.edu/e-journals/Leonardo/isast/spec.projects/spuriousbib.html Spurious Images in Art and Advertising: An Annotated Bibliography. Extensive.
BC Skeptics 7 Sept 1994 Meeting: http://psg.com/~ted/bcskeptics/meetings/Mt940907.html The Selling of Subliminal Perception. Our speaker will be Dr. Timothy Moore, chair of the Department of Psychology, Glendon College of York University, Toronto.
A leading researcher who questions popular notions of subliminal perception, Dr. Moore was an expert witness in the infamous Judas Priest Trial in the US. He appeared on behalf of Columbia Records and the Heavy Metal band, Judas Priest, defendants in a suit brought by the families of two adolescent boys who were allegedly driven to suicide by subliminal satanic messages imbedded in the rock group's recordings.
The plaintiffs' experts included Wilson Bryan Key, whose paranoid fears of manipulation by subliminal advertisers punctuate his pop-psychology best-sellers, Subliminal Seduction and The Clam Plate Orgy. While no reputable scientist supports Key's belief in the power of such messages, there were others, well-known psychologists who cannot plead ignorance of the relevant research, who were nonetheless willing to add their weight to the plaintiffs' case. Without their prestigious names and testimony that flies in the face of the best scientific work in the field, it is doubtful that the case would ever have made it to trial.
Moore's descriptions of the trial bring into focus larger issues such as the role and ethical conflicts of expert witnesses and the low levels of scientific literacy of many judges.
Earthstar Publishing Order Online: http://www.earthstar.com.au/order.html Products That Guarantee You Positive, Personal Growth in Your Life, or Your Money-Back!
Architects of the Air: http://www.royalmail.com/stamps/previous_stamps/aircraft.htm An innovative design technique that disguises human faces as clouds provides the background to the aircraft celebrated on Royal Mail's Architects of the Air stamps launched on June 10th 1997. . . . The First Class stamp remembers Chadwick, chief designer at Avro, the company that built the Lancaster. Chadwick's facial features are outlined in the sky in the background of his famous plane, but his subliminal image looks just like the clouds surrounding the majestic aircraft.
Find the Subliminal Image: http://www.mcs.drexel.edu/~gcmastra/truth02.html This the most important picture you will ever see! The following image was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope of a section of the Eagle Nebula (M16) in Saggitarius. . . . When this photo was shown on CNN on Thursday November 2 1995, the phone lines lit up with hundreds of people claiming to see a face in the star cloud.
INFORMATION HIDING -- AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY (Index): http://www.jjtc.com/Security/sbib00.htm There are a number of application areas in which we want to hide infor- mation or to stop someone else from doing so. These include steganography, copyright marking, the study of covert channels in operating systems, low- probability-of-intercept communications, and the study of subliminal channels in digital signature schemes. Excellent source, including topic of embedded copyright images.
EP0562327: http://swpat.ffii.org/vreji/pikta/txt/ep/0562/327/ Subliminal image modulation projection and detection system. . . . This disclosure relates generally to a weapon training simulation system and more particularly to means providing the trainee with a (multi-layered) multi-target video display scene whose scenes have embedded therein trainee invisible target data. . . . Granted Patent. European Patent Office (EPO). See also the following, of which the above is one entry, . . .
swpat 5001-5100: http://swpat.ffii.org/vreji/pikta/txt/ep51.en.html During the last few years, the European Patent Office (EPO) has granted several 10000 software patents, i.e. patents on rules of calculation whose validity can be proven by means of pure reason (mathematical proof) rather than verified by means of experimentation with natural forces. Below you find a table of 100 patents granted by the EPO for software principles and problems. They were selected mechanically on the basis of probability calculations based on key words. They still need to be reviewed by humans.
Patents using subliminal techniques: http://home.primus.com.au/docile/art-arc/mindpate.txt Someone complained that my news item earlier yesterday about Time Warner's subliminal software had nothing to do with patents. Something in his message (which while reading I started clucking like a chicken) prompted me to make a list of some of the patents that use subliminal techniques.
Manufacturers or users on-screen graphic display upon power-off of a television receiver
Brain wave synchronizer
Visual stimulation devices
Stress reduction system and method
System and method of communication with authenticated wagering participation
Subliminal message generator
Personal subliminal messaging system
Method for measuring the effectiveness of stimuli on decisions of shoppers
Subliminal device having manual adjustment of perception level of subliminal messages
Method and apparatus for introducing subliminal changes to audio stimuli
Subliminal image modulation projection and detection system and method
Method for mixing audio subliminal recordings
Silent subliminal presentation system
Method and apparatus of varying the brain state of a person by means of an audio signal
Superimposing method and apparatus useful for subliminal messages
System for implementing the synchronized superimposition of subliminal signals
System and method for attracting shoppers to sales outlets
Therapeutic subliminal imaging system
Anamorphic amusement device
Auditory subliminal programming system
Method of changing a person's behavior
Video subconscious display attachment
Links: John F. Kennedy assassination film (by Zapruder)
The Zapruder Film: http://www.onlinetoday.com/~smyers/jfk/zapruder.html The Hoax of the Century The Zapruder Film. There are many people who believe that the 8mm movie that Abraham Zapruder is alleged to have made of John F. Kennedy's assassination is a true representation of that event. There are other people who just aren't sure.
What is known already about the film is enough to show that it is a hoax, a fake, a lie. But I discovered something (which I will explain shortly), almost by accident, in November of 1998 which should convince even the most skeptical, . . .
Then, at the Lancer '98 conference while looking over some prints of various Z film frames, a colleague asked me if I saw what he said was a registration mark in one of the frames. I saw something, but it wasn't a registration mark. It was a letter "X". To its left was a letter "E" and further to the left was a letter "S". Within the next 10 seconds, I had found a dozen more occurrences of this subliminal embed. Even with my previous experience detecting these embeds in television broadcasts, in theatrical movies, in magazine ads, in newspapers, in food products, on product packaging and elsewhere, I was stunned when I first found them in the Z film. . . .
so I recommend reading any or all of the books written by Dr. Wilson Bryan Key on the subject of subliminal techniques. Dr. Key explains this subject far better than I can do on a web page. Some of his books are: Media Sexploitation; The Age of Manipulation : The Con in Confidence, the Sin in Sincere; The Clam Plate Orgy : And Other Subliminal Techniques for Manipulating Your Behavior; Subliminal Seduction : Ad Media's Manipulation of a Not So Innocent America.
Here is an example of just one of the Z film frames upon which I have traced as many of the embeds as practical. The majority of them are in the grass, since the grass makes up most of the image, but there are some along the side of the car. Those are more difficult to see in this scan because of the dark color of the car. There are also many in the shrubs along the concrete wall in the background. Again, those are difficult to see in this scan because of the dark color of the shrubs. You should be able to see them clearly in your own copies of the frames. . . . adjust the brightness and/or contrast on your computer monitor . . . to see the embeds more clearly. . . .
How likely do you think it was that the grass could spell the word "SEX"? . . . Copyright 1998, Scott Myers
Several images. See his main page at . . .
Truth and the Assassination of JFK: http://www.onlinetoday.com/~smyers/ . . .
IMPORTANT NEWS REGARDING THE ALTERATION OF THE ZAPRUDER FILM!
I have discovered unmistakable evidence of alteration of the Zapruder film of the assassination of John F. Kennedy. There are alterations which show up in every version of the film I have studied, from the Warren Commission's 1964 still-frames to the MPI videotape version released in 1998, and these alterations are in the same places and of the same type in each version. Some of these alterations have changed over time and appear slightly differently in some versions. Furthermore, additional alterations of the same type have been introduced into the MPI (video) version which could not have been present in any film version since they are outside the frame area of the film. They were introduced into the "black" borders around the film frames as the video was being produced. . . .
Image Index: http://www.mindresearch.org/ImageIndex.htm Many images, those that Dr Key used.
Tiki Lounge Archive: http://shiva.soltec.net/~java/oldtik16.htm "Subliminal Seduction" by Wilson Bryan Key, Signet, 1973. Includes color image of front page and others.
Tiki Lounge Archive: http://shiva.soltec.net/~java/oldtiki6.htm "Media Sexploitation" by Wilson Bryan Key, Signet, 1976. Includes color image of front page and others. After reading this book, you may want to hide all you records and keep your eyes adverted from every billboard you see, unless you don't mind letting sexual innuendo run rampant through your subconscious.
The Age of Manipulation; The Con in Confidence, the Sin in Sincere: http://hallentertainment.com/pop_culture/752.shtml The Age of Manipulation; The Con in Confidence, the Sin in Sincere by Wilson Bryan Key, Bruce R. Ledford .
Subliminal Seduction--Gin test: http://www.crosswinds.net/~thebachelor/gin.htm In the ad for Gilbey's Gin below, Wilson Bryan Key points out that, amoung other things, the word "SEX" is spelled out in the ice cubes. Can you spot it? When you think you've found it, click the picture to get the answer. Good luck.
Subliminal experiment, image 1: http://fac.cgu.edu/~traficaf/anal-1/class06/jantzen2.htm From Wilson Bryan Key, Media Sexploitation, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1976. Large image.
Advertising Law & Ethics: http://agora.phi.gvsu.edu/phi325/marketing/UTexas-advertising.html DEPARTMENT OF ADVERTISING, THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN. . . . information, and links to information, about advertising law and ethics.
Mind Control Technology, Techniques, and Politics: http://www.datafilter.com/mc/subliminal.html Subliminal Influencing. There are several interesting links re FCC advice, military development of "crowd-control" weapons using radiation and possibly subliminal techniques, and use of subliminals in stores to deter theft. This is a page of its Home site at http://www.datafilter.com/mc/ These pages contain documents, links, references, and commentary related to mind control. Mind control is the term in common usage to describe covert behavior modification techniques and the use of neuroinfluencing technology. The main focus of these pages is mind control using electromagnetic and acoustic devices, though the use of drugs, hypnosis, and induced trauma also appears. Focusing too closely on one technique can obscure the fact that the methods may be used in concert with each other, and focusing too closely on the technology alone can obscure the tactics which employ the technology. The political aspect of mind control concerns its use in a "free" society: the testing of the technology on nonconsensual subjects, its use in political persuasion and in suppressing dissent, as well as how the very existence of the technology is covered up and concealed. Worth a look.
Peripheral Learning Reference Guide: http://www.progressiveawareness.com/research/Peripheral_Desk_Reference.html Peripheral Perception: Information Processing Without Awareness. THE LEGAL STATUS OF SUBLIMINAL COMMUNICATION IN AMERICA . . . The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms has adopted regulations prohibiting alcohol advertisements which contain subliminal messages on the basis that they are deceptive advertising. The pertinent regulation states: . . . Audio subliminal communications infringe upon the freedom of thought and mind which the First Amendment seeks to protect. . . .
In Wooley, a New Hampshire statute required noncommercial vehicles to bear license plates embossed with the state motto, "Live Free or Die." Any person who knowingly obscured the numbers or letters on a license plate was guilty of a misdemeanor.
Members of the Jehovah's Witnesses brought suit in federal court seeking both declaratory and injunctive relief from enforcement of the statute. They claimed that the state motto conflicted with their religious beliefs. A three-judge district court granted the requested injunction and the state appealed.
On appeal, the Supreme Court held that it was a violation of the First Amendment for the state to require an individual to display an ideological message on his private property. In reaching its holding, the Court reasoned that the right of freedom of thought protected by the First Amendment included both the right to speak and the right to refrain from speaking. . . .
The St. Petersburg Times - News (Advertising Mind Games Have ATN Taken Off Air): http://www.sptimes.ru/archive/times/596/news/n_advert.htm The St. Petersburg Times, Russia, #596, Tuesday, August 22, 2000.
MOSCOW - The federal government this week unplugged a Yekaterinburg television company as punishment for running subliminal advertisements - ads that blink past so rapidly they are seen by the conscious mind only as a flash - telling viewers not to change the channel. "Sit and watch only ATN," said split-second commercials the Press Ministry says were aimed at the subconscious mind, broadcast this summer on Avtorskiye Televisionniye Novosti, a television company in the Siberian city of Yekaterinburg.
First Deputy Press Minister, Mikhail Seslavinsky, said the case was unique in Russia. "No one has ever before been so impudent," fumed Seslavinsky in an interview. "The use of hidden messages that act upon the subconscious is forbidden by two separate federal laws . . .
See also Pranks, The Disney Embeds, and John F. Kennedy assassination film (by Zapruder).
The Cold Spot -- The Exorcist: http://www.theflagship.net/coldspot/e/exorcist.html The Exorcist, 1973. When a twelve year-old girl shows ever-worsening signs of demonic possession, her only hope is an exorcism from two priests, one of whom has spiritual problems of his own. . . .
The single scariest scene in the movie is one which not everyone catches. It comes very fast -- just a flash really -- and I believe it was an attempt at a subliminal image. It comes during a dream sequence when Karras is watching his old mother, from behind, descend down a stairway into a subway. Suddenly, flashed on the screen is a horrible painted lurid face. After all the special effects and projectile vomiting and screaming, it is this image that I immediately think of when I see or hear of the film. A warning to anyone who is a very devoted Christian -- there is one scene that my be particularly shocking, and is shocking to most viewers regardless of their faith or lack thereof. This is the infamous crucifix masturbation scene . . .
Almost everyone I know lists this movie as one if not THE scariest film they've seen. I highly recommend it and strongly suggest you view it with someone in a bright, sun-filled room. (Mar 26, 2000)
The Exorcist Directory: http://www.geocities.com/hollywood/heights/9850/exorcisthome.html The Exorcist Directory. This site is devoted to the classic horror movie 'The Exorcist'. I've strived (and I continue to strive) to make this the most complete Exorcist site on the net. I hope I've acheived that goal.
'Exorcist' Scares Even Its Writer: http://www.tromaville.com/News/articles/1282001.htm AUSTIN, Texas Screenwriter William Peter Blatty showed up at the Paramount Theatre for Wednesday night's world premiere screening of the new, expanded version of ``The Exorcist.'' So did a bat. . . .
Made for $12 million, ``The Exorcist'' has made $400 million worldwide. It was the highest-grossing horror movie in U.S. history until ``The Sixth Sense'' surpassed it.
Upon its release, the Catholic Church condemned the film. Critics reviled it as trashy and misogynistic. Some filmgoers passed out from fear. . . .
Q: Didn't Pauline Kael call itmisogynistic?
A: You know what she called it? In her review she said, ``This film is the biggest recruiting poster for the Catholic Church since `Going My Way.''' She just hated it.
Devilish Deceptions: http://www.the-exorcist.co.uk/articles/deceptions.htm DEVILISH DECEPTIONS (From Fear Magazine) Issue 24 December 1990). . . . The Exorcist . . .
Dagobert's Revenge Magazine: http://www.dagobertsrevenge.com/index.html?jfk Subliminal Images in Oliver Stone's Movie JFK.
Subliminal Images in Oliver Stone's Movie JFK: http://www.skyeklad.com/wwwboard/messages/875.htm . . . Much of what is presented by the world's motion picture industry contains allegorical and subliminal symbolism that is used to manipulate the minds of an unsuspecting public. The following is a list of subliminal messages in Oliver Stone's JFK, © 1991, Warner Bros., using the slow motion and pause controls on a VCR.
Subliminals: http://www.blackwood.org/sublim.htm SEX AND THE SINGLE SOCIOLOGIST. An Essay on Subliminal Advertising. copyright 1990 by B. Diane Miller Blackwood. Hyperlink index: SEEING IS DECEIVING. SUBLIMINALS. GO TO THE MOVIES. SUBLIMINAL RESEARCH. MENTAL COST. .
http--www.theherald.co.uk-opinion-laing-archive-27-9-19100-20-25-45.html Going from the subliminal to the ridiculous. ACCORDING to the ultra right-wing Christian conservative group, the American Life League, the Walt Disney organisation would appear to be the devil incarnate. Take the feature-length cartoon The Little Mermaid, for instance. Examine the suspect bulge in one particular character's trousers: an erection, obviously. That wispy cloud formation in Aladdin? Look closely and you'll see that it spells out S-E-X. And then there's the line from the same movie where a voice says: "Scat, good tiger, take off and go!" Well, listen to it again. Could it not be "Good teenagers, take off your clothes"?
The Straight Dope Mailbag Do Disney Movies Contain Subliminal Erotica: http://hometown.aol.com/eutychus55/mdisneyperv.htm I have heard of many perverted things "hidden" in various Disney movies.
Welcome to the lunatic world of the subliminal message conspiracy theorists. Into which very recently stepped, albeit unwittingly, the increasingly accident-prone George W Bush, . . .
A case of going from the subliminal to the ridiculous perhaps. . . .
However, the best subliminal message nonsense in rock music concerns the British heavy metal band Judas Priest. In 1985, after two teenage boys committed suicide in Nevada, their parents sued the group for allegedly placing the subliminal message "Do it!" in the middle of a song. The plaintiffs sought $6.2m in compensation.
new sweat to drown me in behind the scenes: Subliminal images in movies Closure and Burn. Has images.
Ad and the Id: Sex, Death, and Subliminal Advertising: http://www.wiu.edu/library/units/av/titlecatalog/ava_al.htm V-2313 c 30 min 1992 University of California. This provocative documentary shows how advertisers use powerful subliminal images to influence and motivate consumers to buy. It analyzes from a psychoanalytic perspective the images of sex and death that are camouflaged in seemingly ordinary advertisements: the ads hidden within the ads. It dramatically demonstrates that advertising is in fact sophisticated applied psychology and enables viewers to learn to "decode" ads and see their hidden messages and manipulations.
Welcome to F.A.C.T.Net: http://www.factnet.org/govintervention.htm Travolta and Warner Brothers Insult World’s Movie Critics over “Battlefield Earth?” Part of F.A.C.T.Net, Inc. Because of the settlement of F.A.C.T.Net, Inc. in the Scientology litigation and our new direction, we are developing a new: . . .
Subliminal Claims in Battlefield Earth: http://www.bernie.cncfamily.com/battlefield_claims.htm . . . Subliminal messages DO have an effect. They can be used as a tool to instill fear and distrust against a group you want to disparage. If a professional actor and a prominent member of such a group decides to make a film based on the fictional writing of his guru, just hint about the fact that the film may contain subliminal messages. . . .
Hypnoptical Illusions: http://www.archimedes-lab.org/page13b.html Hypnoptical Illusions by Sarcone and Waeber. Apparent Movements: When you stare (not too close!) at the diagram below, at a given time the 3 colored concentric rings seem to glow and to rotate around the central disc . . . Rotating Hearts . . . Subliminal image . . . Excellent and startling!
Optical Illusions: http://www.rit.edu/~rejsps/Illusions/illusions.html Illusions take many forms, depending on what aspect of our visual system we are trying to fool. . . . a sampling of some classic and modern illusions. And good links.
What Paper Televison What: http://www.waider.ie/personal/hairballs/prowess.html Peripheral Vision. London Science Museum: peripheral vision toy.
The Subliminal Scares: http://www.parascope.com/articles/0397/sublim.htm. This site and its links (summarized below) give a good history of the issues, with some examples of images, and includes the following excellent links:
PART ONE: Hidden Persuasion? The Subliminal Scares Hidden Persuasion: http://www.parascope.com/articles/0397/sublim1.htm Hidden Persuasion? James Vicary ignited a firestorm of controversy when he introduced subliminal advertising. . . .
James Vicary, the man whose sales scheme would kick off decades of subliminal scares in the United States. Vicary had . . . attracted some attention for his studies of the eye-blink rate of female customers in various store settings. (Vicary sought to use the blink rate as an indicator of interest in products and displays.) In 1957, Vicary announced that he had designed a subliminal projection machine, capable of flashing unnoticeable messages within big-screen movies.
Many people reacted skeptically . . . But Vicary claimed to have conducted a six-week test run at a theater in Fort Lee, New Jersey that caused a noticeable increase in sales. The messages "Eat Popcorn" and "Drink Coke" blipped on the screen every five seconds throughout the feature films . . .
PART TWO: Washington Reacts The Subliminal Scares Hidden Persuasion: http://www.parascope.com/articles/0397/sublim2.htm Washington Reacts.. Rep.William Dawson led the congressional charge against subliminal telecasts. . . . .
In October 1957 Dawson asked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to get to the bottom of the "secret pitch" that had reared its ugly hidden head on a New Jersey movie screen. Dawson said the subliminal method, if successful, entailed "worrisome, if not frightening aspects." For instance, he warned, "put to political propaganda purposes, [it] would be made to order for the establishment and maintenance of a totalitarian government."
Weeks later, the FCC issued a public notice on subliminal projection stating that "caution in using the new technique would evidence proper regard for the public interest." . . .
Vicary took the occasion to downplay the power of subliminals, calling them "a mild form of advertising" and "a very weak persuader." . . .
PART THREE: Vicary Tells All The Subliminal Scares Vicary Tells All: http://www.parascope.com/articles/0397/sublim3.htm Vicary Tells All. In 1962, Vicary told Advertising Age that the subliminal affair was much ado about nothing.
PART FOUR: "Embeds" Everywhere The Subliminal Scares Embeds Everywhere: http://www.parascope.com/articles/0497/sublim4.htm Embeds Everywhere. Subliminal alarmist Wilson Bryan Key saw S-E-X embedded everywhere, even in Ritz crackers.
The second wave of widespread worry over secret stimuli hit the United States in 1973, when Wilson Bryan Key's popular book Subliminal Seduction resurrected subliminal hysteria. Subtitled Ad Media's Manipulation of a Not So Innocent America, the book charged that the use of hidden messages and images in print ads is widespread and causes millions of consumers to buy more, more, more.
The subliminal mechanism that concerned Key most was the "embed" -- a word, slogan, or symbol inserted faintly -- so faintly it is not perceived -- into advertisements. "You cannot pick up a newspaper, magazine, or pamphlet, hear radio, or view television without being assaulted subliminally by embeds," Key claimed.
Key saw a subliminal conspiracy of major proportions at work. Subliminal stimuli "have been regularly used in the North American media for over twenty-five years . . .
PART FIVE: Subliminal Suicides? The Subliminal Scares Subliminal Suicide: http://www.parascope.com/articles/0497/sublim5.htm Subliminal Suicide? "Do It": Judas Priest was accused of prompting suicide with subliminal music tracks.
PART SIX: Subliminal Survives The Subliminal Scares Subliminal Survives: http://www.parascope.com/articles/0497/sublim6.htm Subliminal Survives Is this castle spire rising from Disney's Little Mermaid video slip cover actually a PENIS?
RELATED ARTICLE: CIA Subliminal Research Subliminal CIA: http://www.parascope.com/ds/articles/subliminalCIA.htm . . . When the CIA peered into the power of subliminal persuasion, what did it find? The best available evidence is the surviving documentation on the CIA's research programs. These records have surfaced sporadically since the mid-1970s, when Congressional investigators and investigative reporters probed into some of the agency's notorious experiments in mind and behavior control. . . .
A few years ago, the CIA began declassifying back copies of Studies in Intelligence, its internal journal on the history and methodology of the spy trade. At last the public can read what is probably the agency's first assessment of "The Operational Potential of Subliminal Perception." A report bearing this title appeared in the CIA journal's Spring 1958 issue. . . .
Martin A. Lee, co-author of Acid Dreams: The Complete Social History of LSD, revealed some of this research in an article called "The CIA's Subliminal Seduction," which appeared in the February 1980 issue of High Times magazine. Lee quoted an unnamed "former CIA operative" as saying that "some thought was given to whether or not we could affect political outcomes by using subliminal perception . . .
By 1958, the CIA had already spent at least five years testing ways to breach the mind's defenses. CIA Director Allen Dulles had in 1953 launched MKULTRA, a super-secret set of experiments on the science and techniques of mind and behavior control. The program examined everything from sensory deprivation to hypnosis to drugs like LSD. . . .
Adbusters Culture Jammers Headquarters: http://www.adbusters.org/home/
Deadly Persuasion by Jean Kilborne: http://www.mindresearch.org/DeadlyPersuasion.htm The average American views three thousand ads in one day. Yet remarkably, most of us believe we are not influenced by advertising. In this lively and shocking exposé, Jean Kilbourne reveals how deeply advertisers insinuate themselves into our daily lives. Advertisers do far more than influence our taste—they manipulate our desires so that their products will become our closest friends.
Subliminal.html: http://www.utexas.edu/ftp/coc/adv/research/biblio/Subliminal.html Subliminal Appeals. U. of Texas Department of Advertising. Bibliography of major works re subliminal perception.
It will take approximately 500 milliseconds to traverse all five stages and reach the stage of conscious perception. . . .
Skeptic's Dictionary subliminal: http://skepdic.com/subliminal.html subliminal.
Subliminal Perception: http://www.arts.uwaterloo.ca/~pmerikle/papers/SubliminalPerception.html Encyclopedia of Psychology (2000). Subliminal Perception.Philip M. Merikle Department of Psychology University of Waterloo Waterloo, Ontario. Includes ref to Dixon, N. F. (1971). Subliminal perception: The nature of a controversy. New York: McGraw-Hill. Excellent.
Subliminals: http://www.blackwood.org/sublim.htm SEX AND THE SINGLE SOCIOLOGIST: An Essay on Subliminal Advertising. copyright 1990 by B. Diane Miller Blackwood . Has several images. Excellent overview.
Subliminals: http://www.blackwood.org/sublim.htm SEX AND THE SINGLE SOCIOLOGIST. An Essay on Subliminal Advertising. copyright 1990 by B. Diane Miller Blackwood. Hyperlink index: SEEING IS DECEIVING. SUBLIMINALS. GO TO THE MOVIES. SUBLIMINAL RESEARCH. MENTAL COST. .
ChuckIII's College Resources - Psychology - Subliminal messages - Free Term Papers, Book Reports, Essays, and Research Papers: http://www.chuckiii.com/Reports/Psychology/Subliminal_messages.shtml Subliminal messages.
The Subliminal Scares Embeds Everywhere: http://www.parascope.com/articles/0497/sublim4.htm Embeds Everywhere. The second wave of widespread worry over secret stimuli hit the United States in 1973, when Wilson Bryan Key's popular book Subliminal Seduction resurrected subliminal hysteria. Subtitled Ad Media's Manipulation of a Not So Innocent America, the book charged that the use of hidden messages and images in print ads is widespread and causes millions of consumers to buy more, more, more.
The subliminal mechanism that concerned Key most was the "embed" -- a word, slogan, or symbol inserted faintly -- so faintly it is not perceived -- into advertisements. "You cannot pick up a newspaper, magazine, or pamphlet, hear radio, or view television without being assaulted subliminally by embeds," Key claimed . . . Critical review.
Privacy in the Digital Age - Wild Ideas Lecture Series: http://lkwdpl.org/wildideas/propaganda/ Wild Ideas Lecture Series -- The Battle for Your Mind Propaganda, PR and PsyOps
Placebo as Suggestion: http://www.rdoublel.com/hypnosis/placebo.htm by Charles E. Henderson, Ph.D.
THE BATTLE FOR YOUR MIND: http://www.geosophy.com/brainwash.html THE BATTLE FOR YOUR MIND by Dick Sutphen. Persuasion & Brainwashing Techniques Being Used On The Public Today. The Birth of Conversion/Brainwashing in Christian Revivalism in 1735. ThePavlovian explanation of the three brain phases. Born-again preachers:Step-by-Step, how they conduct a revival and the expected physiologicalresults.
The Battle for Your mind: http://www.caic.org.au/general/batlmind.htm Persuasion & Brainwashing Techniques Being Used On The Public Today. Before you write to tell me that "your church does these things" but it's "not like that" please note that I have posted this because it contains information we would all do well to take note of. If you think your church may be using these techniques unwittingly then it is up to you to take this article and discuss it with the leadership and ask them to look into it further..... Do this without blame or condemnation . . .
sublimi.htm Subliminal Advertising: http://members.dencity.com/jas/fravia/sublimi.htm Subliminal Advertising 20th Century Brainwashing and what's hidden in the Microsoft's logo by Dr. Lechnar. You believe hidden manipulation being hooey? Join the club. That is exactly what big advertisers, major media, politicians, religious leaders and the various huge commercial corporations want you to believe. The more you believe that, the longer and more successfully they can secretly influence your purchasing, and your personal and political decisions. . . .
AMPP Indoctrination - Part 2: http://www.mega.nu:8080/ampp/indoctrination2.html Indoctrination - Part 2, Shoehorning the Public.
CSICOP - Skeptical Inquirer - Spring 1992 - The Cargo-Cult Science of Subliminal Persuasion: http://www.csicop.org/si/9204/subliminal-persuasion.html Subliminal Persuasion.
James McKay: http://www.public.asu.edu/~jtmckay/JAMESM~1.htm Povlitiocal Htiddeen Mess4ages or Nmoe? . . . Apparently, the Republican Party created an advertisement attacking Al Gore in which the word "Rats" is subliminally inserted. . . .
Perception Page: http://www.skidmore.edu/~hfoley/perception.htm Sensation and Perception. Resources for Teaching Perception.
SALON Daily Clicks Media Circus: http://www.salon.com/media/media961217.html The Hidden Persuader. Vance Packard, best-selling sociologist and critic of America's consumer culture, never got much respect during his lifetime. Oh, sure, his critics might concede, people read his books, lots of people, and several of his book titles ("The Hidden Persuaders," "The Status Seekers") found their way into everyday speech. But so what? . . .
Even worse, the obits tended to misrepresent his work: both the Times and the Associated Press described "The Hidden Persuaders" as an analysis of "subliminal" advertising — a sort of precursor to the notoriously silly Subliminal Seduction books that ferreted out paeans to sex in airbrushed ice cubes and full-scale orgies in plates of clams. In fact, Packard devoted minimal attention to the subject — the word "subliminal" doesn't even appear in the book — and treated reports of "subthreshold effects" with some skepticism.
Sex, Drugs, and Exploitation How Advertisers Promote Addiction: http://www.kissing.com/sex.html A multimedia slide program for college audiences.
What's subliminal II: http://www.subliminalworld.com/WHATSUB2.HTM KOOL cigs, S-E-X, . . .
Gallery The Rescuers: http://www.melonfarmers.co.uk/grescue.htm Gallery: The Rescuers. The fun loving animators of The Rescuers slipped in a subliminal image of a topless woman. It went unnoticed in the cinema version but came to light in the US video release which was recalled for editing. Has images.
Links: radio and TV subliminals
CIME-FM Saint-Adèle: http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/eng/Decisions/1997/..%5C..%5CDecisions%5C1985%5CDB85-597.htm
Canadian Radio-television and Tele-communications Commission (CRTC) Decision, Ottawa, 29 July 1985. . . . renews the broadcasting licences . . . The Commission notes that the licensee broadcasts two music programs using subliminal sound impressions designed to foster relaxation and a feeling of well-being. In this regard, the Commission reminds the licensee that neither the Broadcasting Act nor the radio broadcasting regulations currently prohibit or authorize the broadcasting of subliminal messages. The only CRTC regulation on the broadcasting of subliminal messages relates exclusively to commercial messages and currently applies only to television.
See also the technology to electromagnetically and subliminally transmit the voice of God. (Useful at Waco?)
Another Subliminal Image: http://www.star.net/People/~docbob/sublim.htm So far, I haven't been too fired up about the whole subliminal image business. I don't usually go looking for them, but as I sat in the WT study, this one jumped right out at me. It's from the June 1, 1996 Watchtower on page 16. Face of woman with goat's head. Meaning?
The Subliminal Scares Subliminal Survives: http://www.parascope.com/articles/0497/sublim6.htm Is this castle spire rising from Disney's Little Mermaid video slip cover actually a PENIS?
Today the power of subliminals to motivate viewers and listeners remains unproven. As psychologist James V. McConnell puts it, "secret attempts to manipulate people's minds have yielded results as subliminal as the stimuli used." But fears of subliminals have survived, as many people's notions of subliminals are still influenced by the imaginative writings of Key and the anecdotal and varied rumors based loosely on the experiments of motivational researcher James Vicary, who inserted allegedly effective subliminal ads in movies shown at a New Jersey theater for several weeks in the late 1950s. Vicary's venture sparked the first large-scale subliminal scare, and his projections into the subconscious, though never documented or replicated, are still frequently cited as "evidence" of the insidious power of subliminals.
Take the Virginia-based Christian conservative group American Life League (ALL), for example. In recent years ALL has vociferously protested what it says are veiled, naughty messages in recent animated films by the Walt Disney Company. In The Little Mermaid, ALL saw a suspect bulge on a character that appeared to be an erection. In The Lion King, ALL announced the presence of a wispy S-E-X spelled out in the clouds in one scene. And in Aladdin, when a character said "Scat good tiger, take off and go," ALL heard "Good teenagers, take off your clothes." (Disney's alleged subliminals are discussed at length at the San Fernando Valley Folklore Society's Disney Urban Legends web site.)
Sometimes religious groups are accused of employing subliminals. A web publication called Watchtower Observer features subliminal embeds allegedly used in Jehovah's Witness publications. The site features a heavily illustrated analysis that makes an interesting case, whatever its accuracy. . . .
An Arizona company recently introduced software called "InnerTalk" that flashes the user's choice of 9,000 subliminal messages briefly on the screen . . . "Messages such as 'I am energy,' 'Money is good,' . . . are flashed every fifteenth of a second, providing a constant flow of positive affirmation." . . . for $49.95, computer users can now bombard their brains with hidden messages. . . .
Time Warner sold a computer game called "Endorfun" that contains unnoticeably brief messages such as "You create joyous thought" . . .
In the summer 1989 issue of the Journal of the Mind and Behavior, Robert Bornstein presented a detailed and lengthy analysis of "Subliminal Techniques as Propaganda Tools." He concludes that some subliminal methods might successfully deliver propaganda messages . . .
Effective or not, subliminals are here for the long haul. In a recent ruling, the FCC approved a plan requiring TV broadcasters to convert from analog to digital transmissions by the year 2006. With the widespread use of digital television on the close horizon, it won't be long before the technology is in place in most homes to insert subliminal messages more easily and effectively than ever before. . . .
Associated excellent sites, including overview and CIA research: The Subliminal Scares.
Jehovah Witnesses' Subliminal Covert Mind Control David Icke E-Magazine Mind Control Archives: http://www.davidicke.net/mindcontrol/subliminal/jw/sjw091900d.html Esoteric images and commentary, mostly religious!
The Subliminal Scares Subliminal Survives: http://www.parascope.com/articles/0497/sublim6.htm Is this castle spire rising from Disney's Little Mermaid video slip cover actually a PENIS? . . .
the Virginia-based Christian conservative group American Life League (ALL), for example. In recent years ALL has vociferously protested what it says are veiled, naughty messages in recent animated films by the Walt Disney Company. In The Little Mermaid, ALL saw a suspect bulge on a character that appeared to be an erection. In The Lion King, ALL announced the presence of a wispy S-E-X spelled out in the clouds in one scene. And in Aladdin, when a character said "Scat good tiger, take off and go," ALL heard "Good teenagers, take off your clothes." (Disney's alleged subliminals are discussed at length at the San Fernando Valley Folklore Society's Disney Urban Legends web site.)
Sometimes religious groups are accused of employing subliminals. A web publication called Watchtower Observer features subliminal embeds allegedly used in Jehovah's Witness publications. The site features a heavily illustrated analysis that makes an interesting case, whatever its accuracy.
See also Skepticism.
Subliminal Appeals: http://advertising.utexas.edu/research/biblio/Subliminal.html DEPARTMENT OF ADVERTISING, THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN. BIBLIOGRAPHY.
Subliminal Advertising Research: http://www.personal.psu.edu/faculty/r/s/rso3/researching/tscope.htm "SUBLIMINAL" PROCESSING OF ADVERTISING MESSAGES. How to Use a Tachistoscope. Robert S. Owen, CET,Ph.D.
Untitled Document: http://www.ciadvertising.org/student_account/spring_01/adv391k/hjy/adv382j/1st/perception1.html II. Subliminal Perception.
The idea that we perceive information without awareness has a long history. Nearly 300 years age, Leibniz, in his New Essays on Human Understanding, gave a clear statement of the possible role that unconscious perceptual processes may play in directing behavior when he wrote that
“There are hundreds of indications leading us to conclude that at every moment there is in us an infinity of perceptions, unaccompanied by awareness or reflection” and that “the choice we make arises from these insensible stimuli, which, mingled with the actions of objects and our bodily interiors, make us find one direction of movement more comfortable than the other”.
Subliminal perception refers to the perception of stimuli that are below the threshold of conscious awareness. If subliminal means that the individual cannot identify the stimulus, how can it be shown that he or she has indeed perceived it? . . .
Perhaps the most widely known claim concerning the power of subliminal advertising was made in 1957 by James Vicary, a market researcher. He claimed that over a six-week period, 45,699 patrons at a movie theater in Fort Lee, New Jersey were shown two advertising messages, Eat Popcorn and Drink Coca-Cola, while they watched the film Picnic. According to Vicary, a message was flashed for 3/1000 of a second once every five seconds. . . . The weight of the evidence suggests that it was indeed a fabrication . . .
2. The second widespread worry about subliminal advertising
Wilson Bryan Key
More recently, Key has claimed that hidden or embedded messages are widespread and effective. In the 1970s, Wilson Bryan Key wrote such books as Subliminal Seduction and Media Sexploitation in which he claimed subliminal sexual symbols or objects are often used to entice consumers to buy and use various products and services. One of Key’s most famous claims is that the word sex was often embedded in products and advertisements. For example, he claimed that the word sex was printed on Ritz crackers and was embedded in the ice cubes of the drink shown in a well-known ad for Gilbey’s Gin. (See images.) According to Key, despite the fact the embedded words are not consciously perceived, they are unconsciously perceived and can elicit sexual arousal which in turn makes the products more attractive to consumers. . . .
Images: (1) The Pepsi Cool Can . (2) The Camel (3). The ‘RATS’ ad.
This is a detailed paper which confirms my doubts as to the effectiveness and pervasiveness of subliminal embeds.
Dennis L. Rosen: http://www.bschool.ukans.edu/pages/generated/faculty_69.html Dennis L. Rosen, Associate Professor.
Selected Publications . . . "An Investigation of Subliminal Embed Effect on Multiple Measures of Advertising Effectiveness," Psychology & Marketing, vol. 9 (March/April 1992),157-173, Dennis L. Rosen and Surendra N. Singh.
I could not find a copy of the paper, at least one identified as such. Perhaps the Untitled Document one above is it?
Gary P. Radford, Ph. D.: http://alpha.fdu.edu/~gradford/subliminal.html Subliminal Persuasion and the Mass Media. Gary P. Radford, July 1994. . . . Although the evidence for the limited effects attributed to subliminal perception is powerful, in his extensive review Dixon (1971), of the subliminal literature, concludes that he substantiate the claims for has not seen a "shred of valid published evidence" to subliminal persuasionof subliminal stimulation, and that "nobody, except perhaps those interested in the commercial exploitation would maintain that a subliminal stimulus can compete successfully with other more powerful influences." The most clearly documented effects of subliminal stimuli are obtained only in highly contrived and artificial situations. These effects, when present, are brief and of small magnitude . . . I agree with Dixon. I read his book back in about 1973, shortly after reading Subliminal Seduction by Key. Excellent review, with examples (in text) from images and films,and various inquiries.
RealMagick Article Why are some experts skeptical about subliminal influence by Todd I. Stark: http://realmagick.com/articles/48/548.html Why are some experts skeptical about subliminal influence?
Foremost and influential among the early critics was Charles Eriksen (1960, 1962), who pointed out several significant weaknesses in the concept. His critique was devastating, but not entirely conclusive. For one thing, he regarded subliminal perception as a logical contradiction rather than an empirical question.
About 10 years after Eriksen's devastating critiques, N.F. Dixon published a comprehensive summary of the research up to that point (Dixon, 1971) (Dixon, N.F. (1971). Subliminal Perception: The Nature of a Controversy). New York: McGraw Hill. Dixon relied on much the same data as Eriksen, but interpreted it differently, concluding that without doubt information was being processed without awareness, but that it was simply a matter of responses to external stimuli that for whatever reason we did not notice.
This lent some scientific credibility to the claims of Wilson Bryan Key, who triggered a wave of paranoia over subliminal influence. Key followed and built upon the fears created by social critic Vance Packard, who had earlier warned about the use of psychoanalysts by advertisers to craft advertisements. The wave of fear continues to this day.
The subliminal perception research has shifted direction over the years, and now it has become obvious that the human mind does process information unconsciously as well as consciously. We have also discovered that unconscious information processing has some different characteristics from conscious information processing, both cognitively and affectively (thinking and feeling). . . . Excellent overview, despite its questionable source.
See also Wilson Bryan Key and Visual Sex Embeds.
subliminal advertising: http://www.uiowa.edu/~commstud/adclass/craig/subliminal_advertising.htm suSbliEmiXnal adSverEtisXing. . . . The advertising business has ridiculed this practice, better known as subliminal advertising, for decades. Nevertheless, at least three-fourths of the general adult American population believe that subliminal advertising is purposely created and used to sell products. . . . Through this site, I will attempt to disprove the existence of a such a conspiracy by defining subliminal messages, reflecting upon their history, and by providing counter-arguments to Key’s claims. . . .
Subliminal advertising first came to the public’s attention in 1957, when Jim Vicary conducted a subliminal advertising strategy of interspersing "drink Coca-Cola" and "eat popcorn" messages on a movie screen so quickly that they could not be seen consciously by the audience. . . .
Belief in subliminal messaging reached a surreal apex in 1980 with the publication of The Clam-Plate Orgy and Other Subliminals the Media use to Manipulate Your Behavior* by Dr. Wilson Bryan Key. Key claimed that advertisers were using subliminal messaging of a very serious sexual nature in order to manipulate behavior. . . . * The exact title is: The Clam-Plate Orgy And Other Subliminal Techniques for Manipulating Your Behavior.
In his book, Key suggests he found many instances of sexual imagery in liquour ads. Picture.
Wilson Bryan Key is insane!
sublimnalads: http://www.omni-data.com/rayeve/courses/S&sc/sublimnalads.htm The possible existence and possible effects of "subliminal advertising". Has many key references.
MindResearch.Org: http://www.mindresearch.org/home.htm From The Subliminal Research Center. Did you ever consider how much the advertising controls your behavior? Has an excellent set of images, some annotated, and good links, including one to Deadly Persuasion by Jean Kilbourne—a MUST read!
September 17, 2000: http://members.tripod.com/egulphy//paperless2k/2ksep17paperless.html Subliminal Smokes (Part 1). In the spirit of the Wilson Bryan Key books, "Subliminal Seduction", "Media Sexploitation", "The Clam Plate Orgy", and "The Age of Manipulation", I present the first installment of my subliminal advertising expose. Detailed pictures, KOOL, etc. Excellent!
Subliminal Advertising Effects in Magazine Advertisements -- by Michael L. Buchennroth: http://www.buchenroth.com/thesis2.html Subliminal Advertising Effects in Magazine Advertisements Chapter II. THE EXISTENCE OF SUBLIMINAL ADVERTISING A Thesis Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts by Michael Leroy Buchenroth, B.S. The Ohio State University 1977. Very detailed. Excellent commentary and images!
MightyWords - Sex, Guns, Knives And Skulls - Your Key To Subliminal Internet Advertising And Promotion: http://www.mightywords.com/browse/details_bc05.jsp?sku=MWGKDN&privateLabel=false&etailerId=1195 Using subliminals has long been a powerful tool for print advertising. Now, these just-on-the-edge of conciousness images can be just as powerful in those banner and button ads that are so proliferate on the Web. Find out how.
Urban Legends Reference Pages Business (Camel Lot): http://www.snopes2.com/business/hidden/camel.htm Camel Lot. Legend: The image of a naked man is hidden in the artwork of Camel cigarette packs. Several images. Entertaining!
X-E - SMOKE UP, JUNIOR! A look at Wacky Package Cigarette Cards: http://www.x-entertainment.com/messages/304.html . . . Though many of the stickers appear to project an anti-smoking message with phrases like "Take a Lucky Stride Away From These Cigarettes", or "Wicked and Evil Tobacco", you also get ones like "Cigarettes for Kids Who Cut Classes", and "Leaves Your Breath Smelling Like Roses." Regardless of the effect, it's easy to see why many parents (non-smoking of course) would be offended by such stuff. . . . Many images.
Urban Legends Reference Pages Sources (Subliminal Adventures in Erotic Art): Subliminal Adventures in Erotic Art (1993). Less likely a hoax, more likely an hallucination, but Key has amazing stories to tell in this revised edition of The Clam-Plate Orgy (1980). Image of cover of book.
afazi.com: http://www.afazi.com/cl_smith_indecentdeception.html Indecent Deception by Patricia Smith. More than 25 years ago, when I was a sprightly young lass edging toward 20, I happened upon a paperback called “Subliminal Seduction” . . . I was almost 20, which meant I was sexually aroused by almost anything. However, I was intrigued by the book’s premise, that evil American advertisers had found all kinds of deliciously devious ways to fiddle with our heads, causing us to rush out and buy things we didn’t know we needed. . . .
Imagine my lack of surprise when a George W. Bush for President ad surfaced attacking Al Gore’s prescription drug plan. For a mere 30th of a second, superimposed over the words “Bureaucrats Decide,” was the unmistakable, impeccably framed word “RATS.” It was subliminal tampering at its sloppiest, designed to somehow make us think of Democrats as hopeless rigorists and finally as nasty, meddling little rodents. . . .
The faltering George W. Bush campaign is turning to sleight-of-hand to dazzle and seduce voters.
October 8, 2000: http://members.tripod.com/egulphy//paperless2k/2koct08paperless.html RATS!!! Those dirty, low down Republicans and their "Grand Ol' Party"...resorting to subliminal messages to get their man, George Dubya Bush, elected. Picture of "RATS".
Maker of anti-Gore ad has been here before: http://www.ohio.com/bj/features/2000/September/14/docs/010430.htm Man in `rats' controversy created ad for Helms that some viewers believed had subliminal image. . . . In 1990, he made a notorious advertisement for North Carolina Sen. Jesse Helms, then in a tough fight with African-American challenger Harvey Gantt.
The ad showed a pair of hands holding and then crumpling a letter while an announcer said: ``You needed that job, and you were the best qualified. But they had to give it to a minority because of a racial quota.''
The ad was one of several that political-advertising expert Kathleen Hall Jamieson said were ``priming consciousness of Gantt's blackness.''
Bronfmans - Seagram Subliminal Programming David Icke E-Magazine Mind Control Archives: http://control.www1.50megs.com/subliminal/bronfman/092000.html Subliminal Mind Control & Manipulation Archive Feature Bronfmans - Seagram Subliminal Programming. Questionable!
Food Horror Stories: http://www.angelfire.com/tx2/jcgcardman/foodhorror.html Sex on Ritz Crackers.
Free Minds After Hours: http://www.freeminds.org/aftrhour/aftrhour.htm Rose's Cantina. Subliminal image in new French WT book; GOD'S TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT QUESTIONNAIRE; Hitchhiker's Guide to Jehovah's Witness Types; BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU! . . .
Douglas Rushkoff on Coercion by Uri Dowbenko: http://www.steamshovelpress.com/coercion.html Media, Manipulation and the Cult of Consumerism An Interview with Douglas Rushkoff by Uri Dowbenko. Even though Douglas Rushkoff's Coercion is really about mind control, he never mentions it. But this is, after all, his most subversive book.
Rushkoff has been billed as "a brilliant heir to [Marshall] McLuhan." And as the author of Media Virus, Cyberia, Playing the Future, and the novel Ecstasy Club, Douglas Rushkoff has been in the avant garde of media analysis for many years.
Coercion is a fascinating book about the technology of sales and media manipulation.
Media Blitz: