he History of Subliminal Messages

Subliminal messaging, the art of sending signals to the subconscious mind in an attempt to alter the behavior of the conscious mind, has been around for much longer than most people imagine. Scientists have been exploring the potential of the subconscious mind since the late 19th century; however, the practice did not gain mainstream popularity until the 1950s, when market researcher James Vicary claimed that by using a tachistoscope (a device used to flash images for an almost indiscernible amount of time) to flash the words, “Drink Coca Cola” and “Hungry? Eat popcorn” while at a movie theater he was able to guide the spending habits of the patrons.

      Vicary’s images were visible on the screen for less than 1/3000th of a second, but constant repetition boosted sales of both Coke and popcorn-so he claimed. Marketers all over the world immediately jumped on the idea, anxious to get a piece of the consumer pie now that they had a “foolproof” method to increase their profit margin. In the 1960s

James Vicary was cornered into admitting that the entire concept of subliminal messaging had been nothing more than a marketing ploy in and of itself. The supposed results of his movie theater test were never duplicated in any of the other trials, but the subliminal craze was already too far gone. It wasn’t long before an uproar began over the use of subliminal messaging in marketing. Consumers claimed that subliminal messaging was unethical, violating their free will by convincing them to buy something they didn’t want without giving them the chance to make the decision on their own. In 1974 the use of subliminal messaging in advertising was banned by the FCC. This did not, however, stop the private section from hopping on to the subliminal messaging bandwagon.