Whenever I teach my university course “Language and Advertising,” it is not long before students want to talk about the infamous episode in which thousands of movie-goers in the 1950s were exposed to quickly flashed subliminal messages such as “eat popcorn” and “drink Coca-Cola,” causing hordes of people to tramp obediently over to the snack bar to make their purchases without knowing what it was that sparked their sudden desire for refreshments. The example almost always provokes vigorous classroom discussion. The majority sentiment among my students is that advertisers’ use of such techniques is sneaky and unethical, that it subverts an individual’s right to make choices freely without being manipulated by unseen forces.
My students are not alone in voicing disapproval of subliminal messages (that is, messages that are presented too quickly or too inaudibly to be consciously...
Julie Sedivy is an adjunct professor of linguistics and psychology at the University of Calgary, and the co-author, with Greg Carlson, of Sold on Language: How Advertisers Talk to You and What This Says about You (John Wiley & Sons, 2011).
Advertisement
Advertisement