The Hypnotic Techniques Used In Advertising

James Vicary caused a public outcry when he suggested in 1957 that people could be influenced by subliminal advertising

. He suggested that an experiment in which moviegoers watching a film called Picnic were repeatedly exposed to 0.03-second subliminal cuts for well known Cola and Popcorn, raised onsite sales by 58% and 18%. Since the revelation of his test the effect of hypnotic messages in marketing has been hotly contested. A CIA appraisal of hypnotic messages titled 'The Operational Potential of Subliminal Perception', suggested that 'Certain individuals can at certain times and under certain circumstances be influenced to act abnormally without awareness of the influence'. Because of this, subliminal cuts were effectively banned in the US when the FCC ruled that the use of subliminal messages could result in the loss of a broadcast license. In the UK and Australia hypnotic marketing was also illegal, so it has been impossible to verify Vicary's first claim one way or the other. Until a remarkable opportunity presented itself.

To commemorate its 50th anniversary, the Vicary test was replicated at the International Branding Conference, MARKA2007 as part of the Hypnosis, Subconscious Triggers and Branding demonstration. The 1,400 delegates watched the opening credits of the movie used in the earliest research, PICNIC into which subliminal messages had been located at six second intervals. Then, the delegates were asked to choose between two fictitious brands. One brand 'Delta' had been recommended using the hypnotic messages and the other 'Theta' had not.

When choosing between the two brands, 81% of the audience chose 'Delta' in preference to 'Theta'. This suggests a convincing substantiation of Vicary's results. 'Even though this technique is 50 years old, variations of the original techniques are still being used in advertising all around us, this demonstrates the powerful influence of subliminal suggestions the presentation demonstrated. 'The subliminal cut was the mother of all hypnotic techniques and today her children walk all around you. They are everywhere, in posters, press advertising, on the radio and the T.V. They are the legal siblings of an illegal parent.'

Real life examples were then shown of the three most common hypnotic techniques used in advertising today. Each example was chosen because of its ability to change the behaviour of the public and its ability to dramatically increase sales. Most notable was the most watched advert on youtube in 2007, the Cadbury 'Gorilla'. This Cadbury's Dairy Milk chocolate advert features a gorilla banging away on drums to a Phil Collins soundtrack. The cult advert has been observed around 10 million times on the internet claimed a chart, published by the TellyAds.com website. It also changed the purchasing habits of a generation being responsible for multiplying Cadbury's market share by 30%.

The second example shown was the U.K's greatest ad ever as voted by Channel 4 viewers, the Guinness 'Surfer'. A classic ad from over a decade ago this ad has left its mark because it still has instant awareness and very high levels spontaneous recall amongst the public.

Both ads use a number of well known and legal hypnotic and subliminal techniques to promote their products. This is by no means unusual. An analysis of the 20 most popular ads ever reveals that all of them use some form of hypnosis or subliminal techniques to sell their message.

It seems that despite early attempts to ban it, the use of hypnosis and subliminals to increase market share are widespread in advertising.

by: jbrackin

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