Public belief in the power of subliminals
• 75% of Americans believe that
subliminal messages are
omnipresent in advertising, and
that they work (Rogers & Seiler,
1994)
• Why?
– James Vicary’s purported movie
theater experiment in 1957
– Wilson Brian Keys claims of planted
images in advertising
– Claims of subliminals in Disney movies
and other media
– Media spoofs: In a Simpson's episode,
Homer receives a subliminal self-help
tape which increases vocabulary
instead of weight loss. He begins
talking like Shakespeare.
James Vicary
The early years: An urban myth is born
• James Vicary claimed to
have flashed the words “eat
popcorn” and “Drink CocaCola” on a movie screen for
1/200th of a second, every 5
seconds during the movie
Picnic
• He claimed popcorn sales
increased 58% and Coke sales
increased 18%
• Vicary’s experiment was
never successfully replicated
• He later acknowledged the
study was a fraud (Advertising
Age ,1962)
Claims of embedded text and images in
advertising
• Wilson Brian Keys
claimed to have
found phallic symbols
in Tanqueray, Chivas
Regal, Ritz cracker,
and Betty Crocker
ads.
• Can you find the
embedded text in
this Gilbey’s Gin ad?
Why the fascination?
• The prospect of “mind
control” is frightening
• It’s fun to entertain
conspiracy theories
• The popular press
sensationalizes the issue, but
fails to critically analyze the
evidence
• There are just enough
isolated cases to keep the
myth alive
Methodological shortcomings
• lack of control groups
• lack of double-blind
procedures
• possibility of bias or cueing
• lack of replication
• lack of rigorous “blind”
review
Definitions and conceptualizations
• Subliminal message
• Below (sub) the
threshold (limen) of
human perception
– Example: a
message flashed so
quickly that it can’t
be recognized
– Example: a sound
played so faintly
that it can’t be
heard
• Embedding is a form
of subliminal
persuasion
• Supraliminal message
• A message that is
consciously
recognized and
processed
– Example: an image
so faint that it is
difficult to see
– Example: a sound
that is played quietly,
yet is still audible
• Product placement is
a form of supraliminal
persuasion
The middle years: Embedded images
and text
• Embedded
images and text
are subliminal
messages
• This ad for
Tanqueray
allegedly
contains a
phallic symbol.
Product placement (a.k.a. product
planting)
• Product
placement is a
form of
supraliminal
persuasion
• Subtle, perhaps,
but not
subliminal
More phallic imagery, but by no means
subliminal
• Subtle, but not subliminal
More about product placement
• Product placement will
exceed $4.25 billion in 2005
(Advertising Age, Apr 4,
2005)
• Reality TV shows, like
Apprentice and American
Idol, depend on product
placements
• Modern cinema relies on
product placement to offset
production costs.
• Some movies an TV shows
parody product placement
– Austin Powers
– Josie and the Pussycats
– Truman Show
A key distinction
• Subliminal
•
priming has
been well
documented in
controlled
laboratory
settings
– Stimuli can
be
perceived or
processed
without
conscious
awareness
• Priming can
produce
changes in
beliefs, attitudes,
and behavior
Commercial
applications of
subliminal priming
have not been
demonstrated.
– Flashing
“Starbucks”
will not make
a consumer
buy that
brand of
coffee
Paparazzi
help sell
Starbucks
through
“buzz”
marketing
or word-ofmouth
(WOM)
marketing
Types of subliminals
1.
2.
3.
Embedded images:
pictures or words that
are hidden or flashed
quickly (in 100ths of a
second)
Sub-audible messages:
sounds or words that are
too faint to be heard, or
are played at extremely
high frequencies
Electronically altered
signals: backward
masking and other voice
alterations
Embedded images: Now you see ‘em,
now you don’t
• Champion & Turner
(1958) inserted
“Wonder Rice” in a
food ad
• Vokay & Read (1985)
embedded the word
“sex” in ads
• Smith and Rogers
(1994) found
supraliminal messages
that said “choose this”
were far more
effective than
subliminal messages
In the 2000 presidential
campaign, Republicans
ran a campaign ad that
included the highlighted
the word “RATS” in the
larger word
“DEMOCRATS.”
Embedded images in Disney movies?
• Jessica (sans
underwear?) in Who
Framed Roger
Rabbit
• It is much more likely
that this was a prank
by a “cell painter”
than a corporate
conspiracy
Embedded images in Disney movies
• The Little Mermaid
– A circumcized
sandcastle?
– The artist who
painted this
scene claimed
the
resemblance
to a phallic
symbol was
unintentional
More Disney embedding
• The Rescuers Down
Under (who’s in the
window?)
• Little Mermaid: boney
knee?
• The Lion King: S E X ?
More embedding…
• Pall Mall cigarettes
and embedding?
– Some claim that
the banner on
the bottom of
the Kent
cigarette
package shows
two KKK
Klansmen
• Pepsi and
embedding
– The graphics on
the cans line up
to form the
word “SEX”
Embedding as a conspiracy theory
• Examples of
embedded images
appear to be
isolated cases
– The incidents
appear to be
pranks rather than
organized
marketing
strategies.
– The mere
existence of
subliminals does
not prove their
effectiveness.
What advertisers really do
• marketers keep finding new ways to deactivate our
advertising early warning systems” (Safer 2003)
– product placement
– “branded entertainment” (The Apprentice,
American Idol, Extreme Makeover Home Edition)
– product integration; relying on a multi-pronged
approach based on word-of-mouth, blogs,
youtube, and traditional media.
• The goal for these newer strategies is to appear as
seamless as possible.
Why product placement is so popular
• Viewers can flip past
commercials or “zap” them
using TIVO
– product planting can’t be
eliminated
• A commercial, advertisement,
or billboard is temporary
– a planted product remains on
a film forever
• Product placement is cheaper
than buying commercial time
– a 30 second spot can cost
$475,000, whereas a season’s
worth of placements costs
$200,000 (Law & Braun, 2000)
Commentary on product placement
• “We never want to hit the movie
goers over the head with product
exposure, the best placements are
natural and seamless”
– Steve Ross; 20th Century Fox
• “When a Star uses a recognizable
product, people in the audience will
pat themselves on the back and say
‘look how smart I am, I’m using the
same thing as the hero in the
movie’. It’s the most inexpensive
way to get visibility and sales
power.”
– Gisela Dawson; The Catalyst
Group
Unintentional product placement
Nike’s swoosh logo on
suicide victims from the
Heaven’s Gate cult
Clinton drinking Coke
during his videotaped
deposition
Recent subliminal research: Eureka!
They found it.
“Priming” occurs when a
subliminal stimulus
precedes, or is paired
with, a supraliminal
message (Strahan,
CAR CAR
Spencer, & Zanna, 2000). CAR
• The prime is flashed at
about 16 milliseconds,
below the threshold of
conscious perception.
• The results reveal that such
priming improves subjects’
performance (Debner &
Jacoby, 1994; Klinger &
Greenwald, 1995).
•
A sample subliminal priming study
• Patton (1992) exposed “normal” and
“bulimia prone” females to one of
three subliminal messages:
– “Mama is leaving me”
– “Mona is loaning it”
– “Mama is loaning it.”
• Afterward, the females were invited to
participate in a taste-test involving
crackers.
• The “bulimia prone” females who were
exposed to the maternal separation
message (“Mama is leaving me”) ate
twice as many crackers as the females
in the other two groups.
Subliminal priming can affect attitudes
• Graham & Lowery (2004): Subliminal
priming can activate negative racial
stereotypes
– police officers were exposed
subliminal primes embodying negative
stereotypes of African Americans
– Next, all the officers were presented
with a hypothetical scenario involving
a criminal defendant.
– The primed group attributed more
negative traits to the defendant,
found him more culpable, and
favored a stiffer sentence compared
to the control group.
Subliminal priming can alter behavior
• Winkielman, Berridge, & Wilbarger (2005):
Subliminal priming can alter behavior
– Exposed participants to subliminal images
of happy or angry faces
– Participants then tasted a new, lemon-lime
flavored drink.
– After reporting how thirsty they were, they
were told to drink as much as they wanted.
– Participants exposed to happy faces
consumed more than twice as much—but
only if they were already thirsty
– Priming may act as a “trigger,” but only if
there is a prior need, goal or drive.
Cautions regarding subliminal priming
effects
• Effects of priming are short-lived
• The subliminal prime must still be
perceived, even if perception is
without awareness
• No proof of commercial viability
Final thoughts
• If you stare at clouds long enough,
you will see a rubber ducky
• Beware of the fallacy that
“presence” implies “effectiveness”
• Even in controlled laboratory settings,
subliminal effects tend to be weak
and transitory
• Difficulty of proving a negative (e.g.
that there aren’t subliminals
everywhere)