The History of Subliminal Messages

Have you ever heard of the Vicary Movie Experiment on subliminal messages?

The study that a lot of self-help websites use to convince you that their subliminal products really work.

Haven’t you ever wondered what the study was all about and what really happened back then?

Well, if you're interested in the history of subliminal messages, you're in luck, 'cos by the end of this article, you'll have learnt about what actually happened in the history of subliminal messages, without all any urban legends or myths.

Doesn’t it sound convincing?

In fact, many self-help and subliminal message products refer to the Vicary experiment as proof that their subliminal message products work and have the potential to influence your attitudes and behavior.

Except for one problem...

The Vicary movie experiment was a hoax. James Vicary actually faked the results of the experiment.

Problem is, few people know about this today. Even fewer have even looked into the history of subliminal messages to find out what actually happened.

So, What Actually Happened in the History of Subliminal Messages?

The news media quickly picked up on the Vicary study and publicized it widely. All that media attention created huge public interest and outcry over the supposed dangers of subliminal messaging.

Public outrage over being influenced by subliminal messaging was so great that the New York Senate actually passed a bill outlawing the technique. The National Association of Radio and Television Broadcasters banned the use of subliminals by its members.

However, others saw the potential in subliminal messaging. Movie theaters, television and radio stations began trying out subliminal messages and some even started selling subliminal advertising spots. Others began broadcasting subliminal messages for the public good, warning drivers of "slippery roads" during icy weather, "mail cards now" at Christmas, etc. Even the US Army got involved to examine if subliminal messages could be used for "educational" purposes.

All this attention and public exposure made James Vicary rich as corporations saw the potential of subliminal messages and began seeking Vicary’s services to help them in their advertising. He actually set-up a company called the "James Vicary’s Subliminal Projection Company" to cash-in on all this interest in subliminal messaging.

But Did It Work?

After all that, the US Federal Communication Commission did an experiment in 1958 to determine if subliminal messaging actually worked. Government officials and the press were invited to take part in the experiment, which flashed a subliminal message "Eat Popcorn" at 5-second intervals during a television show.

The experiment was a flop.

No one was tempted to go look for popcorn and apparently, the only response was from a Senator who reportedly said, "I think I want a hot dog."

Eventually, public attention in subliminal messaging died down and the James Vicary’s Subliminal Projection Company went bust in June 1958.

Later, when challenged to duplicate the experiment by the Psychologist Corporation, James Vicary wasn’t able to repeat the results of his previous experiment. The 2nd time he conducted the same experiment, there was no significant increase in popcorn or Coca-cola sales.

Eventually, in 1962, James Vicary admitted that he had faked the whole thing.

By then, the media had lost interest in the subliminal messaging controversy.

James Vicary’s confession that he had hoaxed the entire subliminal message experiment was not widely publicized.

So that's how the history of subliminal messages really started. As a result, to this day, many people still bring up the the Vicary experiment as proof that subliminal messages do work, not realizing that it's actually an urban legend.

The 2nd Chapter in the History of Subliminal Messages...

According to Keys, the word SEX was found in nearly every ads of the day. Not only that, Keys also claimed that there were (or, perhaps more accurately, imagined that he saw) images of naked women, orgies and other sexual activities in pictures of ice-cubes, drinks, plates of clam, food, etc.

Just like the 1950s, this sparked off another media frenzy, and everybody (again) opposed the supposedly embedded subliminal messages in normal everyday advertising.

In 1974, the FCC actually announced that subliminal techniques, "whether effective or not, were contrary to the public interest" because it involved "intentional deception of the public". The FCC further warned that any station using subliminal techniques would lose its broadcast license. Keys went on to publish another three books (Clam Plate Orgy, Media Sexploitation, Age of Manipulation), all on the same premise that the public was being brainwashed by embedded subliminal messages in advertisements.

To be fair to Keys, he did get a couple of things right. He argued that the power of advertising lies in controlling cultural symbols, for example in linking virility to liquor bottles and safety to soap. According to Keys, such subtle twists of meaning shape the cultural environment and influence people’s subconscious.

However, his claims that advertisers were using sexual symbols and orgies in everyday advertising (even for household items such as washing detergent and soft drinks) made it difficult to take him seriously.

And that closes another chapter in the history of subliminal messages. But what happens next is even more interesting...

Here’s Where Self-Help Subliminal Messages Come From...

Here’s where the history of subliminal messages took an interesting turn. All that media attention on the supposed dangers of subliminal advertising actually resulted in the public became curious and interested in trying subliminal messaging on themselves.

It’s a bit like people deliberately touching a wall to see if the paint is really wet after they notice a sign up there warning NOT to touch the wall because of wet paint! (There’s a lesson in there about the power of curiosity...=)...)

Anyway, all this created a market for self help subliminal media, especially subliminal tapes. These tapes usually consisted of music or sounds of nature, over which subliminal affirmations were recorded at a very low level. Listeners would not be able to hear the messages but were supposedly influenced on a subliminal level.

At first, subliminal tapes, and later videos and computer software, were sold through direct marketing at first, but gradually spread to retail stores by the late 1980s. At their peak, some estimates of subliminal cassette tapes sales reached as much as US$50 million annually.

So there you have it, the history of subliminal messages summarized in one neat article. So, the next time someone uses the Vicary experiment as proof that subliminal messages work, you’ll know better...