The Pictures in the Hidden Pocket of Your Mind

In freshman year I took Personal Communication, where one of the most interesting things we learned about was subliminal messaging. A subliminal message is a message that may be remembered even if the recipient of the message is not consciously aware of the message being presented. This makes no sense right? How can you remember a message that you don’t even know exists and is being presented to you? The answer is - you don't, but this hidden pocket of your mind does - it’s called your subconscious. In fact, your subconscious is probably full of subliminal  messages because they are present everywhere in everyday society. For now though, I want to talk about how they are present in advertising, specifically. 

Advertisers constantly put subliminal messages in their ads to make you subconsciously remember their product or company. It is precisely because of subliminal messages that you may have a random craving for a McDonald's burger. Chances are you saw an ad for the burger and tried to disregard it because it's not a healthy option, but something hidden in the ad is making you think about it, remember it, and come back to it. The crazier and more common scenario however, is that you haven't seen a McDonald's burger ad in ages, but you see the subliminal message that was hidden in the burger ad, and all of a sudden you are craving a McDonald's burger, yet you don't know why. Often people think to themselves; What is wrong with me? That's so random - why did I just think of that? I haven't had a McDonald's burger in ages. We know it seems odd, but we usually just blow it off as a craving. Isn't that mind-blowing?!

Here is how subliminal messaging works. Subliminal ads contain extremely hidden images or symbols that you consciously won’t realize are there, but your subconscious will. Keep in mind that normally when you see ads you don’t look at them for long periods of time. In fact, the whole point of an ad is to be eye-catching and concise in order to be memorable. For example, you may see an ad on a billboard, but only briefly as you drive by at a distance. In this scenario you are not looking at the ad for a substantial amount of time - and advertisers know that! This is also why ads on T.V. are purposely flashed across your screen at a rapid speed - to make subliminal messaging work - because if you were to analyze an ad for too long, your conscious may notice the hidden image or symbol. Although this is not usually bad for you, it is bad for the advertiser if they get caught using subliminal messages. While it is not "technically" illegal in the U.S. for advertising companies to use subliminal messages, the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) does maintain the right to rescind the advertising license of any company that gets caught using them. Essentially, any company that uses subliminal messages in their ads is risking their advertising rights. 

Below are some examples of subliminal ads. Unfortunately, many subliminal ads have sexual hidden messages. Did you know that Disney has even been accused of including sexual subliminal messages in their movies?! It's really quite sad. The videos that give the examples have too much crude language, so I didn't post any of them in this post. If you do go look them up on your own time, be forewarned, some of them may ruin your favorite Disney movies.

See the woman made of ice on top of the coke can?

 See the two men sharing chips and salsa?  They also conveniently spell a slang word for a woman's breast. 

See the arrow? Get it - because FedEx ships your stuff forward to you?

See the $1 dollar bill conveniently hidden in the lettuce? Your subconscious sees that and every time you see a dollar you think of the KFC Snacker. Can't you just hear it whispering "it's only a dollar"?

McCloud says that “words and pictures together are considered, at best, a diversion for the masses, at worst a product of crass commercialism.” Subliminal ads are actually both! They contain messages that are essentially subconscious diversions from your normal thoughts to thoughts of the advertisement, and they are definitely crass commercialism! The definition of crass is; lacking sensitivity and intelligence, and the definition of commercialism is; emphasis on the maximizing of profit. Subliminal ads definitely lack sensitivity because they manipulate and deceive consumers. They are also definitely not a smart choice on the advertiser's part, since the advertiser risks their advertising rights in using them. As far as commercialism goes, advertising is the epitome of that! Advertising's only purpose is try to maximize profit, and subliminal ads just take it to a whole other level. So there you have it, the words and pictures combined to create a subliminal message in an ad are both diversions for (or in) the masses and products of crass commercialism!