Subliminal Advertising. Are You Aware?

Are you aware of the techniques used by advertisers to subliminally influence you? I've been informally studying subliminal advertising for a number of years. I was introduced to it when I read a book called "Subliminal Seduction"

Advertisers use hidden pictures, specifically arranged pictures, phrases with double meanings and other techniques to affect us at the subconscious level of thought and emotion. One of the most common ways advertisers do this is to embed the word "sex" into pictures used in advertisements. I have been aware of this for so long, I am able to identify them easily. The reason I thought to make this thread is because I was eating at a Quizno's sandwich shop (National Chain) and noticed the ads in the restaurant used pictures of their sandwiches obviously embedded with the word "sex" using the folds of sliced meat to spell the word.

If you are inclined to think it must be imagined or just some pattern recognition, remember the advertiser is spending a large amount of money to place the ad in a magazine or on television. They are leaving nothing to chance. Every single part of the ad, picture or text is created to manipulate certain responses.

I am including a link to a site that gives a number of excellent examples (mostly print ads) and explanations of techniques.
I'll post more info as I find it.


http://www.poleshift.org/sublim/

Also the link has many examples of ads for alcohol and liquor that are very interesting.

...SMOKE.



Neat thread Hydra...this is relevant to my interests.

Sex sells..






















Giggity.

Here's a good one to get you started. See post #7 for an explanation.

Look at that chick about to kiss him, and he barely even cares..

That dude is such a pimp...

Does anyone else feel like a cigarette?


I bet that dude had no idea smoking causes impotence..no hard pack for you sir.

@Hydra: Yeah, the guy who runs the site you linked could use a few classes on how to make a website not look like shit, but it's pretty interesting stuff...the "Kramer vs Kramer" pic was neat....there are a lot of things going on you just don't really notice.

This post refers to the cigarette ad picture in post #5

The text below was not written by me but by someone studying the subject:

This advertisement contains an optical illusion that will become dramatically obvious once it is pointed out to you.

The caption says “If you got crushed in the clinch with your soft pack, try our hard pack.” The play on the words “hard” and “soft” is difficult to overlook; the ad seems to be promising virility and potency to the prospective male purchaser of Benson & Hedges.

The picture portrays a young man and woman embracing each other. If you just glanced at the expression on the man’s face for a moment or two, you would probably assume that he is smug, as though he were thinking “If you smoked Benson &Hedges you too would have beautiful women chasing after you.” If you study the expression on his face, however, you will discover that it is somewhat ambiguous. He could be smug, but he also could be a bit nervous. It is possible that the aggressive advances of the lovely young woman are making him uncomfortable.

Some people have suggested the man shares a secret with male viewers that the woman doesn’t know about. I wondered what the man’s secret could be. I hung the ad on my wall for several weeks and looked at it every day, until one morning it suddenly jumped out at me.

Look at the man’s left hand, the lower hand in the photograph. It is resting gently against the lady’s backbone.

The lady’s backbone has been carefully airbrushed to resemble an erect, male phallus. It is six and a half inches long in the scale of the photograph. It is circumcised, and the tip of it is about to enter a cylindrical curl formed by the lady’s hair.

The longer you look at it, the more obvious it becomes. If you study the close up you will see that the man’s hand is clearly wrapped around a cylindrical object that can’t possibly be part of the woman’s anatomy.

On a conscious level the Benson & Hedges ad promises sexual excitement, but on an unconscious level it stimulates sexual anxiety. The reason for this is that anxiety is associated with maladaptive behaviors like smoking, drinking, and overeating. We all realize that people smoke more when they are nervous; therefore, if you make them nervous you induce them to smoke more. If they know you are trying to make them nervous, however, they will resent the ad and avoid the product. In order to be effective, the ad must present a dual message: one that is consciously understood and presents a socially acceptable theme, and another that resonates with powerful secret motivations the viewer remains unaware of.

Diamonds... she'll pretty much have to

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ur2er-STls[/youtube]

Quote:

Originally posted by Honda_X

@Hydra: Yeah, the guy who runs the site you linked could use a few classes on how to make a website not look like shit

Yeah, the background is fucking cheesy. and annoying. but, meh.

Quote:

Originally posted by hydrahead

...

Yeah, the background is fucking cheesy. and annoying. but, meh.

Neat stuff though honestly...I'm a fan of this thread.

What got you interested in subliminal advertising? Did you want to, or were you in advertisement at some point?

Quote:

Originally posted by Honda_X

...

Neat stuff though honestly...I'm a fan of this thread.

What got you interested in subliminal advertising? Did you want to, or were you in advertisement at some point?

Nope, never in advertising. I was visiting my friend at college. I was in his dorm room and just picked up the book and read the whole thing. Now I can't look at an ad on TV or in a magazine without seeing this shit. It's kinda like having the antidote. If you know it's there, it's not subliminal anymore.

neatsish. I took a pop ciluture class a few years ago that was all about recognizing the hidden messages in ads, tv, even kid's movies...


you're so right, hydra, once you've studied it, if even only briefly, you see subliminal messaging everywhere! I like being aware of it hah

Quote:

Originally posted by Pink_Moon

neatsish. I took a pop ciluture class a few years ago that was all about recognizing the hidden messages in ads, tv, even kid's movies...


you're so right, hydra, once you've studied it, if even only briefly, you see subliminal messaging everywhere! I like being aware of it hah

Yep! *studies PinkMoon's message closely*

he he he














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Hi, Hydra!

I'll be damed... a smart thread!

Great stuff mate

Quote:

Originally posted by thechosen29

I'll be damed... a smart thread!

Great stuff mate

Thanks man! Now you have the power. the antidote.

Here is a picture from a beer ad that bragged about using wood chips in the brewing process.



Here is the pic with a bit of outlining to help you see the hidden words.



The technique of embedding words and images is very common.

Another example:



Now with pic turned sideways and highlighted in the lights of the building.

awsome, funny how you don't notice those kinds of thing until someone shoves them right in your face.

Funny that you mention Quiznos. A few years ago a mechanic friend of my had hung on the side one of his big tool boxes an Arbys add from a magazine or something. The picture had a few of their sandwiches on it. I think it was their roast beef sandwich which was the center of attention of the add and if you look carefully you can see how the folds of meat hanging out of the sandwich were shaped and exactly looked like a pussy, like shockingly pussy looking so much that my friend hung it on his tool box. No kidding. Coincidence or subliminal? I wish I could find that exact add on the net...