- What is subliminal advertising?
- History of subliminal advertising
- Types of subliminal advertising
- Characteristics of subliminal advertising
- Examples of subliminal advertising
We explain what subliminal advertising is, its history and types that exist. In addition, its main characteristics and some examples.
What is subliminal advertising?
Subliminal advertising is called all types of advertising, usually visual or audiovisual, that contain a message that is undetectable to the naked eye and that incites the consumption or that moves the viewer in a certain direction.
It is a type of illegal advertising in most of the laws, since it has the ability to introduce a hidden message in a notice or in an advertisement, without the viewers being able to perceive it or be aware of it.
Subliminal advertising It operates directly with the unconscious, allowing the images to be perceived by the passive aspects of the mind, and therefore without the message being controlled or supervised by the entities in charge of doing so.
These hidden messages are generally aimed at associating the advertising brand with some type of primary sensation, in order to unconsciously mobilize the masses towards consumption, or to induce some type of sensations in them that later business can capitalize. For example, if an ad subliminally induces hunger in your viewers, then surely it will sell them food.
Hence comes the name of this type of advertising: subliminal it means that it goes under (sub–) of the limits (liminal) of the perception. Subliminal messages are not exclusive to advertising, however. In many cases they have been used with artistic or experimental grounds, since there is still no official consensus regarding the true functionality of this type of message.
History of subliminal advertising
Many of the origins of this technique propaganda are shrouded in mystery or are part of contemporary myths. For example, the invention of subliminal advertising is credited with James McDonald Vicary, an advertising expert in the United States in 1957.
This individual would have inserted one or two frames per minute in the audiovisual advertisements of the Coca-Cola Company (or other brands of the time) to subliminally influence the public, using a device called a taquitoscope.
The phrases inserted were “Are you hungry? Eat popcorn ”or“ Are you thirsty? He takes coca-cola ”, which supposedly would act later by inducing the consumption of these products. The technique is said to have been a resounding success, while other sources claim that it is a techno-myth.
Of course, subliminal messages were not born at that time, but with the previous rise of psychoanalysis and the popularization of the theories regarding the unconscious of Sigmund Freud. The human being has long wanted to secretly influence the masses, as evidenced by films on the subject, such asMetropolis by Fritz Lang orThe doctor's cabinetCaligari by Robert Wiene.
Types of subliminal advertising
In theory, subliminal advertising would use various techniques to secretly influence its audience, such as:
- Hidden images. Hidden lines, silhouettes or contours are used in an advertisement to evoke in the viewer a reaction that has nothing to do with the product offered, but is unconsciously associated with it.
- Subliminal settings. These are contextual and accompanying conditions of the product that are apparently innocent or accidental, but that serve to induce the viewer towards certain sensations or emotions that would be linked to the product.
- High frequency emissions. It consists of the emission of images or words inciting consumption or a certain sensation, in a painting in the middle of an audiovisual or sound advertisement, which is not consciously captured but is fixed in the subconscious mind.
Characteristics of subliminal advertising
As we have said, the distinctive feature of subliminal advertising is its hidden and secret action, camouflaged in its seemingly innocent context. Through various methods, this type of advertising incorporates the minds of consumers a specific message that directly or indirectly encourages them to consume. This is a type of illegal advertising.
Examples of subliminal advertising
There are some historical examples of cases in which a company was accused of using hidden messages in its advertisements that appealed to primary sexual impulses, such as the advertisement forVetiver of the Puig brand, in which a model took an arm out of a pool and rested it on the ground, right in the shadow of a model and in the region of her crotch.
The same was said of the Coca-Cola bottle, whose curves would unconsciously imitate the body of a woman, but the directors of the company affirmed that its original inspiration had been a seed of cocoa.
It has also been said that colors of the large fast food chains fulfill a subliminal function, which is to generate in the client the opposite of hospitality: the feeling that you must eat quickly and leave. This is achieved through intense and vibrant tones, aggressive, everywhere.