A tale of the alchemist who made gold from cola and popcorn
On September 12, 1957, fifty journalists gathered in a Manhattan cinema to hear the announced „big story.” They were not disappointed: the enthusiastic and persuasive market researcher, James Vicary, first screened the short film "The Secrets of the Reef," and then made a sensational announcement.
According to him, using a modified tachistoscope, hidden messages flashed in the film for a fraction of a second, which were suitable for influencing human behavior.
The astonished journalists (who perceived none of this during the screening) were also informed of the establishment of the Subliminal Projection Company, which would revolutionize advertising with the new method.
Vicary also issued a press release reporting on a specific experiment conducted on a large sample size: in a New Jersey cinema, no less than 45,699 moviegoers were shown subliminal messages during the film "Picnic" (1956) using the tachistoscope. During the six-week experiment, two types of textual messages flashed in the cinema for fans of Kim Novak:
„Eat popcorn!”, „Drink Coca-Cola!”
The messages, invisible to the human eye and flashing for only three thousandths of a second, achieved a shocking conversion: popcorn sales increased by 57.7%, while cola sales rose by 18.1% during the test period.
Vicary named the technique used subliminal perception, which is based on the idea that the stimulus or message reaches its target by bypassing the recipient's perception, „below the threshold of consciousness.”.
The bomb exploded: the Printer's Ink advertising magazine reported on „invisible advertisements” in a headline, but the expected global success did not occur as Vicary had anticipated. In the Cold War atmosphere, many saw the subliminal method as a satanic tool for ideological or political manipulation. Newsday called „subliminal stimulation” the most alarming invention since the atomic bomb.
In early 1958, Life magazine reported subliminal advertising as a fact and summarized the essence of the method for laypeople.
From the beginning, there were those who received the story with skepticism or at least had further questions. Where are the detailed research results? Where is the modified tachistoscope? Vicary responded to the emerging questions by stating that the device and method were under patent application, so he could not disclose further details.
Amidst the massive media interest, Vicary repeated the experiment twice under the supervision of the American Psychological Association – both times unsuccessfully. In January 1958, the Washington-based government agency, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), compelled Vicary to officially reproduce the experiment. The test, conducted in front of congressional representatives and journalists, also ended in complete failure. Vicary projected the message „Eat popcorn!” to the audience, and only Senator Charles E. Potter from Michigan thought he would like to eat a hot dog...
An enthusiastic university student, Stuart Rogers – who later became a marketing professor at the University of Denver – conducted an investigation at the original experiment site in Fort Lee. He quickly realized that something was wrong with the venue. The cinema's capacity simply was not suitable for over 45,000 people to pass through in six weeks. He also spoke with the cinema's manager, who knew nothing about any experiment, let alone that cola or popcorn sales had significantly increased over the past year. The suspicion grew stronger that „subliminal advertising” was a massive hoax.
In the increasingly anxious situation, in mid-1958, Vicary left New York. He next appeared in public in 1962 when he gave a television interview to Advertising Age. During the conversation, Vicary admitted that he had lied about the tests with the subconscious messages – he wanted to generate interest in his business.
With this admission, the inglorious story of „subliminal advertising” could have come to an end, but that did not happen. During the Cold War period, the possibility that invisible rays, artificial waves, and other technologies could influence our minds and behaviors filled people with excitement and fear, whether by advertisers or governments. More and more people believed (and still believe today) that „subconscious tools” aim to subject the entire world to diabolical, secret influence.
Over the decades, new alchemists emerged who were not afraid to take the fear of subconscious influence off the shelf – greatly tarnishing the reputation of the advertising industry. But that is another story...
Interested in the topic? I recommend:
- Subliminal Advertising
- James Vicary (wikipedia)
- Does subliminal advertising actually work?
- Subliminal messages in the cinema
- Subliminal Messages
- Maddest of the „Mad Men”
- „Subliminal” Advertising”
- Does subliminal advertising exist?
- Dominic Streatfeild: Brainwashing, Budapest, 2007. HVG Books
