RE: taboos

From: Wade T.Smith (wade_smith@harvard.edu)
Date: Fri Mar 30 2001 - 17:44:08 BST

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Subject: RE: taboos
Date: Fri, 30 Mar 2001 11:44:08 -0500
From: "Wade T.Smith" <wade_smith@harvard.edu>
To: "memetics list" <memetics@mmu.ac.uk>
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On 03/30/01 10:51, Lawrence DeBivort said this-

>Alas, it is not an urban myth. It was actively used for TV at least once by
>the Bush campaign in 2000.

Oh, no, no, no- the fact that _some people think it was used there_ is
valid- in that, yeah, there was a leftover frame- and the fact that some
people use what they think would be a 'subliminal' effect is valid, but,
no, there is no proof for, and quite a lot of evidence against, that
'subliminal' advertising techniques have _any_ effect, at all, since the
early fraudulent Coke affair in the 50's.

- Wade

***********

From the Skeptic's Dictionary-

Robert Todd Carroll

SkepDic.com

subliminal

The subliminal is below the liminal (the smallest detectable sensation).

Anything truly below the level of detectable sensation could not, by
definition, be perceived. However, the subliminal is generally said to be
below the threshold of conscious perception. There is a widespread
belief, not strongly supported by empirical research, that without being
aware of its presence or content, a person's behavior can be
significantly affected by subliminal messages. Thus, it is believed that
one can influence behavior by surreptitiously appealing to the
subconscious mind with words and images. If this were true, then
advertisers could manipulate consumer behavior by hiding subliminal
messages in their ads. The government, or Aunt Hilda for that matter,
could control our minds and bodies by secretly communicating to us
subliminally. Learners could learn while listening to music embedded with
subliminal messages. Unfortunately, "...years of research has resulted in
the demonstration of some very limited effects of subliminal stimulation"
and no support for its efficaciousness in behavior modification (Hines,
312).

The fact that there is almost no empirical support for the usefulness of
subliminal messaging has not prevented numerous industries from producing
and marketing tapes which allegedly communicate directly with the
unconscious mind, encouraging the "listener" not to steal, or coaching
the "listener" to have courage or believe in his or her power to
accomplish great things. Consumers spend more than $50 million each year
on subliminal self-help products (Journal of Advertising Research,
reported by Dennis Love, Sacramento Bee, 9-14-2000). A place called
Holistic Hypnosis offers a wide array of such tapes developed by James H.
Schmelter, a hypnotherapist with an MBA and self-proclaimed expertise in
synergistic science. If Schmelter's stuff is not to your liking, try
Subliminal Inspiration from Success Cassettes, Inc.

It is true that we can perceive things even though we are not conscious
of perceiving them. However, for those who put messages in tapes and then
record music over the messages so that the messages are drowned out by
the music or other sounds, it might be useful to remember that if the
messages are drowned out by other sounds, the only perceptions one can
have are of the sounds drowning out the messages. There is no evidence of
anyone hearing a message which is buried beneath layers of other sounds
to the point where the message does not distinctly stand out. Of course,
if the message distinctly stood out, it would not be subliminal.

The belief in the power of subliminal messaging to manipulate behavior
seems to have originated in 1957 with James Vicary, an advertising
promoter who claimed to increase popcorn sales by some 58% and Coke sales
by some 18% in a New Jersey movie theater simply by flashing very briefly
the messages "Drink Coca-Cola" and "Hungry - Eat Popcorn" at the
subliminal level. Even though the claim has been shown to be a hoax, and
even though no one has been able to duplicate the event, belief in the
legend lingers. This story and several others were retold by Vance
Packard in The Hidden Persuaders (1957), a book that became required
reading for a generation of college students.*

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 Wilson Bryan Key. The book has been reissued
under the sexier title: Subliminal Adventures in Erotic Art. Key claims
that advertisers use subliminal messaging of a very serious sexual nature
in order to manipulate behavior, including imbedding sexy figures and the
word 'sex' in images of such things as ice cubes and food. While
carefully examining a Howard Johnson's menu, Key saw that the plate of
clams pictured on the menu was actually the portrayal of a sexual orgy
which included various people and a donkey. Among Key's many unfounded
claims is that the unconscious mind processes subliminal messages at the
speed of light. Actually, the fastest brain process chugs along at some
40 m.p.h. (Hines).

Despite the fact that there is no body of empirical support for the
notion that subliminal advertising is effective, in 1974 the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) issued an order saying that broadcast
outlets that knowingly carry subliminal ads are operating "contrary to
the public interest." In September 2000, Senators Ron Wyden of Oregon and
John Breaux of Louisiana complained to the FCC about a Republican ad that
flashes the word ''RATS'' (or "BUREAUCRATS") across the screen for 1/30
of a second. ''We have reason to believe that broadcasters are airing
television advertisements that contain subliminal messages in violation
of the public interest,'' they said, apparently oblivious to the fact
that something which can't be registered by the brain is unlikely to have
any effect on viewers and is unlikely to violate anything except the
reasonable bounds of credulity. Wyden and Breaux must be very bored. They
ought to ask themselves why anyone would bother with useless subliminal
messages when the overt message of the ad claims that Gore's prescription
drug plan will introduce a bureaucracy that will interfere with
doctor/patient relationship.