The Subliminal Messages in Print Advertising

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The Subliminal Messages in Print Advertising

• The importance of viewing ads critically
• Ligia Hernandez / Andrea Larson
• Teaching Media Literacy

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What is Subliminal Advertising?

• Subliminal advertising is a technique of exposing
  consumers to product pictures, brand names, or
  other marketing stimuli without the consumers
  having conscious awareness. Once exposed to a
  subliminal marketing stimulus, the consumer is
  believed to decode the information and act upon
  it without being able to acknowledge a
  communication stimulus.

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When did it begin?

• Public Advertising" began with the 1957
  publication of Vance Packard's book, The Hidden
  Persuaders. Although Packard did not use the term
  "subliminal advertising," he did describe many of
  the new "motivational research" marketing
  techniques being employed to sell products in the
  burgeoning post-war American market.
  Advertisements that focused on consumers' hopes,
  fears, guilt, and sexuality were designed to
  persuade them to buy products they'd never
  realized they needed. Marketers who could reach
  into the hearts and minds of American consumers
  soon found consumers' wallets to be within easy
  grasp as well.

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History Cont.

• 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
  Keys most famous claims is that the word sex was
  often embedded in products and advertisements.

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Key Cont.

• 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 Gilbeys Gin. 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.

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Ritz/ Gin

• Ritz Cracker

• Gin

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The Pepsi Cool Can

• In 1990, Pepsi actually withdrew one of its Cool
  Can designs after someone protested that Pepsi
  was subliminally manipulating people by designing
  the cans such that when six-packs were stacked at
  grocery stores, the word SEX would emerge from
  the seemingly random design. Critics alleged that
  the red and blue lines on the Cool Can design
  were far from random

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Pepsi Cool Can from the 90s
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Camel Tobacco

• The Camel Tobacco companies have also been the
  target of accusations of visual embeds. One
  common alleged embed of sexually suggestive
  imagery is on the standard pack of Camel
  cigarettes. Apparently, if you look closely
  enough at the rear leg of the camel on the
  cigarette pack, you can see an image of a naked
  mean standing tall facing the rear of the camel
  with an erect penis.

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Camel Tobacco
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Can you find the subliminal here?

• The steam on the mirror means that someone is
  showering?If so, then the darker parts reflected
  in the mirror are the people in the shower?

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Newport Ad

• Note how the woman's head is leaning back, her
  eyes closed, her mouth open, and her legs up in
  the air.What is the role of the guy standing over
  her?

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Musk by Alyssa Ashley

• Note how flushed their faces are. Faces flush
  when people are sexually aroused.

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Candies

• The rocket, a phallic symbol, is blasting off.
  His middle finger creates the blast off.The
  target seems to be between her legs.

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We invite you

• Find your own examples or subliminal messages
  embedded in print advertising.
• Look more critically at ads, next time you are
  exposed to them.

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Dont let advertisers play with

• Your mind
• Your psyche
• Your impulses
• Your beliefs
• Your desires
• YOU!

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Resources on Subliminal

• http//www.ciadvertising.org/student_account/sprin
  g_01/adv391k/hjy/adv382j/1st/application.html
• http//people.uleth.ca/vokey/pdf/Submess.pdf
• http//www.poleshift.org/sublim/
• http//images.google.com/imgres?imgurlhttp//130.
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  http//130.18.140.19/mmsoc/subliminal/h549w400
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