Subliminal advertising is an attempt at hidden advertisement. Its aim is to
influence a consumer without their knowledge by planting an idea into their subconscious.
A good example of subliminal influence in everyday life is given in the social psychology
text by Brehm et al^: when you are vacuuming, and you
think you hear the phone ring, but you're not sure. This is subliminal influence because
it's very difficult to hear the ringing over the sound of the vacuum, but it still registers
with your subconcious.
Subliminal messages have been a source of controversy. Some experts don't believe that it works, while others have faith in its effectiveness.
One of the most well-known uses of subliminal messages was when movie theatres flashed
pictures of popcorn and soda for fractions of a second during a showing. Apparantly snack
bar revenues increased. Since then, this type of subliminal advertising has been outlawed. Similarly, politicians have been known to use subliminal messaging.
Subliminal messages are also used in imagery and slogans. As you can see by the following images, advertisers are using the old cliché, 'sex sells', by subliminally placing the word 'sex' and sexual images in their advertisements:
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As you can see, subliminal messages sometimes use words, such as the liquor ads that actually spell out the word 'sex'. Other times, the message is more hidden; for example, the nose and mouth on the camel in the cigarette ad are fallic symbols. Other ads simply have a sexual undertone, like the ad with a sexy woman in the foreground. Usually, the sexy model has nothing to do with the product being advertised; instead, the implication is that 'if you buy our product, you will become sexy or get a sexy partner like this'. Subliminal messages try not to be obvious, but it is often easy to pick out the hidden message if you pay close enough attention. If you can notice the underlying message behind a subliminal advertisement, you are less likely to be influenced by it.