James Vicary claimed that by flashing subliminal messages to the movie audience instructing them to purchase coca cola and popcorn that the sales of these products were significantly increased.
The Vicary study caused controversy from the outset. It caused concern in government which eventually bled to the general public. The panic created soon paved the way for a complete ban of subliminal messages from TV and radio in several countries!
Even though James Vicary told Advertising Age that his study was a "gimmick" and his findings were falsified the acceptance that subliminal messages produce results remains. If the experiment was false and subsequent studies produce no real meaningful data from the use of subliminal messages why does the belief in their effectiveness remain to this day?
Perhaps part of the answer lies in some 1957 subliminal messages experiments conducted by a very large and powerful organization.
While the battle raged over the effectiveness of
subliminal messages the CIA were quietly conducting their own research into the phenomenon!
The CIA was most interested in whether subliminal messages could be used to influence targets to think and act in certain ways. In classified documents, that were released under The Freedom of Information Act, is evidence of how the CIA were involved heavily in the research of subliminal messages as a method of forced control.
"The Operational Potential of Subliminal Perception" is a 1958 CIA document that has been released which outlines the agency's involvement in the study of subliminal messages. In addition to this, in 1980, Martin A. Lee wrote an article for High Times in which he claims a former CIA agent stated that the CIA were committed to the investigation of subliminal messages as a tool for manipulation in politics and whether or not they could use them to influence the outcome of a political vote.
In the declassified document, the CIA observed that it might be possible to include a subliminal message such as 'Obey'!
Although we have no way of knowing whether the CIA ever stopped their investigations into subliminal messages we do know that it is prevalent in advertising. It is also used frequently in self improvement fields as a tool for self change. Subliminal messages are used in a variety of personal development products.
