Subliminal Advertising

Australian TV network, Network Ten, used subliminal advertising during the 2007 ARIA awards, but will not be punished by the media authority in Australia. The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) announced on October 7 that it found Network Ten guilty of breaching the Commercial Television Industry Code of Practice during the broadcast of the 2007 ARIA Music Awards on October 28. (ARIA is the Australian Recording Industry Association, similar to the American Music Awards in the United States.)

During the introduction of the awards show, when they announce the nominated artists, Network Ten “broadcasted quick one-frame bursts of sponsor logos, which included Chupa Chups, Big W, Olay, Telstra Bigpond, KFC and Toyota” according to BusinessDay.com. It was ABC’s Media Watch program revealed the breach.

ACMA reviewed the material and found the “rapid-cut graphics used in the program was a technique that attempted to convey information to viewers below or near the threshold of normal awareness.”Network Ten argued to the ACMA that “the rapid-cut graphics were intended to be creatively consistent with the fast-paced look and feel of the music presentations.” Uh-huh. Sure. That’s why most people weren’t even aware of the graphics. What good would that do unless the network was really trying to use subliminal advertising, which the evidence suggests it was in fact doing.

The ACMA warned Network Ten not to try that again with the upcoming 2008 ARIA awards, airing October 19.

What is a subliminal message?
According to Wikipedia, “A subliminal message is a signal or message embedded in another medium, designed to pass below the normal limits of the human mind's perception.” You don’t consciously register what you’ve seen, but your subconscious mind and unconscious mind can be influenced negatively or positively by subliminal messages. Later on, when you’re considering what kind of car to buy, for instance, you might think of Toyota over Ford because your subconscious mind remembers seeing the flicker of Toyota ad during the ARIA awards.

The key in subliminal messages is to keep it short – the mind can only perceive one word or one image at a time at that low of a perception level.

Subliminal ads
Subliminal ads aren’t just on TV – many print ads also have a subliminal message. Check out the following sexy, subliminal ads: http://mioliz.com/?p=166. Look closely at the Coke ad – I can’t believe Coke would do that!

I’m sure you’ve heard of subliminal messages in Disney films too – suggesting erotic overtures. But not all subliminal ads have to do with sex, although that seems to be the most popular examples when I Googled “subliminal advertising.” Any word or image that is flashed in milliseconds within another medium can be considered subliminal. Just as any word or image in a print ad or even spoken during a radio commercial that is intentionally inserted for milliseconds to increase influence in product choices can be subliminal. Some might not see anything wrong with subliminal advertising, but it is wrong because people should be aware of what kind of info they are consuming.