Subliminal Advertising Essay

For over fifty years, companies have utilized subliminal messaging in print, television, and radio advertisements to manipulate consumers into purchasing certain products and services. This form of advertising infringes upon American citizens first amendment rights which, as defined by Wooley vs. Maynard, extend to protect a person's freedom of thought and speech. Such communication influences individual's behavior without his or her knowledge, and removes his or her ability to actively make certain decisions. The practice of subliminal messaging is defined by the Federal Communication Commission as" a technique of projecting information below the viewing audience's threshold of sensation or awareness." In visual advertising, specifically, a message lasting only a few milliseconds is flashed on the TV screen. Theoretically, such a message could be absorbed by the viewer without him or her realizing it ("Subliminal Messages"). This practice was first brought to the attention of the public in the late 1950s when James Vicary, a movie theatre owner and marketing researcher, announced that he had developed special equipment which would allow the advertising industry to utilize subliminal projection ("The Legal Status of Subliminal Communication in America"). He cited a success story at one of his privately owned movie theatres where he flashed phrases like "Eat Popcorn" and "Drink Coca-Cola" at 0.0005 seconds during movies. Using this method, he claimed to have raised his Coca cola sales by 18% and popcorn sales by 58% ("The Roots of Subliminal Perception"). Although Vicary attempted to pass off his discovery as harmless advertising technique, the general public became extremely offended and fearful of this attack on their subcons...

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...claims of corporate entities, there is conclusive evidence that subliminal messaging is effective. If we do not pay attention, society may become overwrought with subconscious manipulation, and the very freedom that this country has been founded on may become victim to the consumerism that has come to dominate citizen's everyday lives. The whole fabric society will slowly unravel as companies play with people's brains, and influence their everyday choices. As technology becomes more advanced and the world evolves, the law needs to grow in parallel to limit and prune the outgrowths of innovation. In terms of subliminal messaging, the law has fallen far behind the growth of technology and scientific discovery. By implementing, the necessary regulations we will be able to control and hopefully stem the proliferation of subliminal messaging in our everyday lives.