h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Good Point

Well put

I'm bored

So Long and thanks for all the food for thought

Oh sorry, I take back what I said They can be used for two things. Well three, you can also make boats out of them.

"Is there in fact such a thing as subliminal advertising. We all know the story about Coca Cola using subliminal advertising during movies in the 50s or 60s, but it is a complete myth."

Can you substantiate that? Subliminal images can work (there was one in the recent Hugh's Brothers films "From Hell" - some of the preview audience noticed it) and in the 1970s it was generally accepted that cinemas used it to sell popcorn and stuff.

Yeah, there was a case in America in the 50s when one cinema owner would flash up a frame here and there saying 'Drink Coca-Cola' or 'Eat Popcorn'. His Coke sales apparently went up one quarter, and his popcorn one fifth.

Well, I don't know about From Hell. And just because they saw it doesn't mean it worked. More the opposite.

And the whole thing started when a guy claimed he showed pictures of coca cola and popcorn in his cinema, as subliminal pictures. He claimed the sales had been raised so and so much, but looking at his accounting books that has been shown not to be true.

Eep, simulpost!

Is it possible to put subliminal messages into music?

Love Incog.

Paul is dead

The band Judas Priest went to prison for something like that I think.

"He claimed the sales had been raised so and so much, but looking at his accounting books that has been shown not to be true."

How does that prove that subliminal images weren't used at his cinema and others, then?

Just because something fails to improve business (in this case retrospectively) doesn't mean a business didn't do it. Failing companies still change their names to "NutMeg" or something and then are astonished when it doesn't stop their customer base continuing to dwindle.

It doesn't prove they weren't used. Just that if they were, they never worked to improve his sales. And I don't know of anyone since that have shown they worked.

"Is it possible to put subliminal messages into music?"

I doubt it. There was a fuss in the 1980s when stupid people claimed there were "hidden" messages on Judas Priest songs. These "hidden messages" were only to be found when the song was played backwards (?!) and were usually some unintelligable gibbership that was interpreted as saying "do it" or something and then blamed if a fan of the band committed suicide. How they were supposed to understand something that was backwards was never fully explained. Believe it or not, this was taken quite seriously at the time. Idiots.

I like the Bert is Evil site, which has a clip of Tickle Me Elmo playing backwards...

I remember Chris Morris on "Blue Jam" playing Elton John's "Candle in the Wind '97" backwards to reveal a "subliminal message". I can't possible reveal what it appeared to say.

Ummmm, how nice yogurt is?

For the true story about subliminal advertising, see the Urban Legends Reference:

http://www.snopes.com/business/hidden/popcorn.htm

A key quote from the end of the above article, which describes how the whole debacle started:

'For neither the first nor the last time, a great deal of time and money and effort was expended on "protecting" the public from something that posed no danger to them. As numerous studies over the last few decades have demonstrated, subliminal advertising doesn't work; in fact, it never worked, and the whole premise was based on a lie from the very beginning.'

It's all a myth. Sorry...

(the article above will answer your questions on subliminal advertising in cinemas, too)

I persdonally dron't siee whnat's wronkg with sucblimional adverltisaing.

So, if subliminal advertising is cack, what about viral advertising? How do we know that certain people in this forum aren't sitting at the headquarters of CocaCola being paid to mention that brand? How do you know I'm not employed by them to get you talking about my - er their - product.

Ethically, this could throw up a whole can of worms. Viral ads aren't monitored (because they don't appear to be adverts) they aren't subject to any sort of regulation and, essentially, there basic premise is fraudulent. But proving a company is involved in it is quite hard.
Think of the following phrases and how many times you've read something similar:

Did anyone see Buffy last night?
Oooh, Coke and Lemon? It sounds a bit odd, I'll have to try it.
Is there anywhere good to go in Staffordshire? I heard there was some sort of theme park...
They're all wearing Nike where I live...
Matrix Reloaded is gonna whip the llama's ass. They've just put up a new trailor at http://whatisthematrix.warnerbros.com/. God Keanu's cool!

There you are. Do you want your products or services mentioned in a range of websites visited by thousands of young, virile opinion formers? Please leave a message on my H2G2 homepage, and I'll get back to you.

Andy

Anyone else read Soft? It is partly about viral advertising - good book...