When you play Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven” backward, can you actually hear the words “oh here’s to my sweet Satan”? When James Vicary flashed the words “Drink Coca-Cola” and “Hungry? Eat Popcorn!” did food sales at a New Jersey movie theater increase by over 50 percent? Did a one-frame flash of “Buy Bonds” in the 1943 film classic The Wise Quacking Duck win the war for Allied troops?
In all cases, the answer is no.
Despite the hubbub, including the FCC’s 1974 ban on subliminal advertising, the technique’s rarely been shown to be effective. In fact, James Vicary admitted that he faked his famous experiments that started the buzz in the first place (though his stunt did get the words Coca-Cola a substantial burst of free airtime).
That said, recent studies have found subliminal advertising to be somewhat—but only somewhat—effective, and in interesting ways. First, there’s a major catch: customers have to already be in the mood. They have to be thirsty in order for the subliminal signal “Lipton Ice” to make them buy more tea; they have to be tired before subliminal priming will make them eat more “attention” pills. And, interestingly, the effect easily strays: Subjects primed with the word “beef” showed no preference for steak over chicken, but proved to be hungrier in general.
Morality is the weakness of the brain.
—Arthur Rimbaud
The verdict: Perhaps with refinement, subliminal advertising could become a tool of indescribable evil, but in it’s current state—meh.…
Self-Test:
Quick Memory Check
1. Remember this name and address:
John Doe
6285 Central Street
Boston, MA
2. Remember these words: popcorn, horse, Frisbee
3. What was the main course of your dinner the past two nights?
4. What did you wear yesterday and the day before?
5. List the past five United States presidents.
7. List four kinds of birds.
8. List four teachers you had in school.
9. Who are the current vice president, secretary of state, and speaker of the house?
10. Write down the three words you were asked to remember at the beginning of the quiz.
11. Write down the name and address you were asked to remember at the beginning of the quiz.
Scoring:
Give yourself 1 point for each piece of information you remembered (count each address line as a point).
If you scored:
27–30 Your mind is a steel trap.
20–26 Yeah, whatever.
13–19 Duh, whatever.
0–12 Consider a professional evaluation.
Logic of Illogic: K Words
Do you think there are more words in the English language that start with K, or more words in which K is the third letter?
Seriously, think about it: kitten …
kangaroo …
acknowledge …
ankylosaur …
Did you choose starts with K? If you did, you’re not alone. Far more people pick starts with than third letter.
In fact, there are about three times as many English words with a K in the third position than in the first. But because sticking a K at the beginning of a word gives us a first sound to work from, it’s easier to think of words that start with K. This is a clear example of decision-making led by an availability heuristic: These words that start with K pop to mind and based on this availability we assume they’re more prevalent.
The same availability heuristic affects our fear of flying (crashes are spectacular and pop quickly to mind despite flying’s relative overall safety) and our decision to underinvest in the stock market (again, spectacular crashes mask greater overall safety).
