Tell Me Something............Anything!

[Marco]

As usual you put it so much better than I can. And that has always been my understanding of 'subliminal advertising'.

Mine too, but that's not the issue here!

Marco.

[Joe]

Yes, do you think I don't know that? But you're still not getting it!

Some people are more susceptible to the effects of subliminal advertising than others

Part of the problem is that you keep using that word 'subliminal'. It has a specific meaning in relation to advertising, and it doesn't refer to mass advertising. The phrase 'subliminal advertising', as defined by the Oxford English Dictionary, is:

'Used in various collocations relating to exploitation of the idea that people can be unconsciously influenced or taught by messages or other stimuli projected just below the threshold of awareness, as subliminal advertising, subliminal message, subliminal teaching, etc.

The idea of influencing people in this way became the subject of public controversy in 1957 following the announcement by the market researcher James Vicary (1915–77) that the insertion of advertising messages lasting a fraction of a second into a film shown at a cinema in Fort Lee, New Jersey, had been found to increase sales of the products advertised; however, it was later disclosed that no such experiment had been carried out, and the effectiveness of such methods in influencing behaviour remains a matter of debate.'

I don't suppose anyone is completely immune to advertising per se, but I don't believe that McDonalds use subliminal advertising.

[walpurgis]

My parents used to watch Emmerdale Farm, along with Corrie and Brookside.

Coronation Street. Is that dreadful rubbish still going? I remember when it started.

Does anybody remember 'The Appleyards' soap, which predated it?

[Joe]

Coronation Street. Is that dreadful rubbish still going? I remember when it started.

Does anybody remember 'The Appleyards' soap, which predated it?

No, but I remember the Applejacks!

[walpurgis]

No, but I remember the Applejacks!

About ten years later.

[Joe]

About ten years later.

Ah, that would be before we had a TV. We got one around 1963, having pestered our parents because we wanted to watch Dr Who.

[walpurgis]

I watched The Coronation on TV.

[Joe]

I wasn't even a worried look on my father's face back then.

[walpurgis]

I wasn't even a worried look on my father's face back then.

I was nearly five and remember it clearly. I also remember all the neighbours crowding into our living room to see it, as we had the only telly in the street as far as I recall. The old man bought it for the occasion and it actually didn't pack up, which it did regularly afterwards.

[Marco]

Part of the problem is that you keep using that word 'subliminal'. It has a specific meaning in relation to advertising, and it doesn't refer to mass advertising. The phrase 'subliminal advertising', as defined by the Oxford English Dictionary, is:

'Used in various collocations relating to exploitation of the idea that people can be unconsciously influenced or taught by messages or other stimuli projected just below the threshold of awareness, as subliminal advertising, subliminal message, subliminal teaching, etc.

The idea of influencing people in this way became the subject of public controversy in 1957 following the announcement by the market researcher James Vicary (1915–77) that the insertion of advertising messages lasting a fraction of a second into a film shown at a cinema in Fort Lee, New Jersey, had been found to increase sales of the products advertised; however, it was later disclosed that no such experiment had been carried out, and the effectiveness of such methods in influencing behaviour remains a matter of debate.'

I don't suppose anyone is completely immune to advertising per se, but I don't believe that McDonalds use subliminal advertising.

Exactly... I also agree with the first part of your last sentence. No I'm not *immune* to it, but I believe I'm much less susceptible to it than some, confirmed in part by the lifestyle choices I deliberately make, or indeed vehemently shun...

I disagree though that McDonalds don't use subliminal advertising. It comes in many different forms, as subtly as having the presence of their logo in an unexpected public place, or on TV, out with of one of their adverts. Stuff like that happens all the time. The point is though, if it's done right, you'll be unaware of it!

It lays dormant in your subconscious, and at some point later may inadvertently influence your buying decisions... Now, that's definitely my last comment on the subject!

Marco,