Subliminal messages in popular culture
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While the effectiveness of subliminal messages is often overstated in popular culture, its history in television shows, movies, music and novels have long lead many cultural idioms that persist today. Governments are often depicted as employing subliminal messages in propaganda: * The novel ''Freeze Frame'' by B. David Warner depicts the election of a corrupt president candidate using subliminal advertising to sway the votes in his favor. * The 2001 movie ''
Josie and the Pussycats Josie and the Pussycats (sometimes simply known as The Pussycats) are a fictional girl group A girl group is a music act featuring several female singers who generally harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense i ...
'' described a long lasting plot whereby the US government was controlling trends by inserting subliminal messages in
popular music Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fu ...
. Furthermore, towards the end of the film, a government agent shuts down the operation, saying that subliminal advertising works better in films. The words "Josie and the Pussycats is the best movie ever" are then spoken rapidly in
voice-over Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique where a voice—that is not part of the narrative (non- diegetic)—is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, theatre, or other presentation ...
and displayed quickly on screen, with the words "Join the Army" in smaller letters below it. * In the 2005 science fiction movie '' Serenity'', the Alliance uses subliminal messages broadly disseminated in commercials and other video to cause River Tam to go berserk. It only works on River because she was subjected to Alliance training and conditioning. * ''
Programming the Nation? ''Programming the Nation?'' is a 2011 feature social documentary written, produced, and directed by Jeff Warrick. The film explores subliminal programming in American mass media. Kevin Thomas of the ''Los Angeles Times'' reviewed ''Programming ...
'' is a documentary that goes in-depth by interviewing experts on subliminal messaging and manipulation in the media. Musicians have been associated with alleged incorporating subliminal messages via the use of Backmasking, including rock bands
Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...
and Pink Floyd. Many references deal specifically with the military: * An episode of ''
The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer Simpson, Homer, Marge ...
'' involved Bart and his friends joining a boy band, the Party Posse. While watching a video for the Party Posse, Lisa notices the phrase "Yvan Eht Nioj" being repeated continuously by belly-dancers. She plays the video in reverse and finds that it means "Join the Navy". Also, an
Uncle Sam Uncle Sam (which has the same initials as ''United States'') is a common national personification of the federal government of the United States or the country in general. Since the early 19th century, Uncle Sam has been a popular symbol of ...
"I Want You" poster can be seen in the video frame by frame. The joke was that the United States sends subliminal messages in order to recruit people. In addition, the art of "superliminal messages" was demonstrated to Lisa; a Navy representative leans out a window, sees Lenny Leonard and
Carl Carlson The American animated television series ''The Simpsons'' contains a wide range of minor and supporting characters like co-workers, teachers, students, family friends, extended relatives, townspeople, local celebrities, and even animals. The write ...
, and shouts "Hey you! Join the Navy!" * In '' JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean'', a character called
Weather Report Weather Report was an American jazz fusion band active from 1970 to 1986. The band was founded in 1970 by Austrian virtuoso keyboardist Joe Zawinul, American saxophonist Wayne Shorter, Czech bassist Miroslav Vitouš, American drummer and voca ...
has an automatic stand called "Heavy Weather". Heavy Weather manipulates the ozone layer to create
rainbows A rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. It takes the form of a multicoloured circular arc. Rainbows ca ...
that send visual subliminal messages telling people that they are
snails A snail is, in loose terms, a shelled gastropod. The name is most often applied to land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs. However, the common name ''snail'' is also used for most of the members of the molluscan class Gastro ...
. The ability is so effective that people actually start turning into snails. They become susceptible to the weaknesses of snails like salt, boat backed ground beetles, and others. * In an episode of '' Malcolm in the Middle'' titled "Reese joins the Army (2)", one of the drill sergeants comments about the other's restored confidence in the Army ("I guess the subliminal advertising's working after all"). His fellow drill sergeant then matter-of-factly states "the Army doesn't use subliminal ads" and then the pair slowly turn and look at each other. This is not too different from the joke in ''The Simpsons'' episode mentioned above, this episode was a joking reference to the low military recruiting numbers in 2004 suggesting that the
US military The United States Armed Forces are the Military, military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six Military branch, service branches: the United States Army, Army, United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps, United States N ...
uses such things in a tactic of desperation. * In a 1995 episode of ''
Babylon 5 ''Babylon 5'' is an American space opera television series created by writer and producer J. Michael Straczynski, under the Babylonian Productions label, in association with Straczynski's Synthetic Worlds Ltd. and Warner Bros. Domestic Tele ...
'', during a scene which represents a PSA for the
Psi Corps The list of ''Babylon 5'' characters contains characters from the entire ''Babylon 5'' universe. The Babylon station was conceived as a political and cultural meeting place. As such, one of the show's many themes is the cultural and social intera ...
, the words "Trust the Corps" and "The Corps is Your Friend" appear on screen for four frames. J. Michael Straczynski wanted the audience to recognize the subliminal message; "I had my staff find out what constitutes subliminal material—and it's two frames per second, which is illegal, you can't do things at that speed--so I went four frames per second". * An early episode of ''
The X-Files ''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction drama television series created by Chris Carter. The series revolves around Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), who ...
'' deals with a small town plagued by killings where the perpetrators are influenced by messages appearing on ATMs and other electronic devices. Mulder refers to the use of subliminal messages in several instances. * The '' Family Guy'' episode '' Mr. Griffin Goes to Washington'' jokes about subliminal messages for smoking in television. It shows an old black and white TV show whose dialogue is repeatedly interrupted by a suited man stating "Smoke" and later "Are you smoking yet?" in a monotone voice. Later in the episode, when Peter is arguing with his bosses about smoking, the same man interrupts while saying "Smoke." * The advertising element is mocked in
Terry Pratchett Sir Terence David John Pratchett (28 April 1948 – 12 March 2015) was an English humourist, satirist, and author of fantasy novels, especially comical works. He is best known for his '' Discworld'' series of 41 novels. Pratchett's first no ...
's ''
Discworld ''Discworld'' is a comic fantasy"Humorous Fantasy" in David Pringle, ed., ''The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Fantasy'' (pp.31-33). London, Carlton,2006. book series written by the English author Terry Pratchett, set on the Discworld, a flat ...
'' novel '' Moving Pictures'', when, to please a sponsor, a movie producer inserts a still image lasting several minutes of a serving of
spare ribs Spare ribs (also side ribs or spareribs) are a variety of ribs cut from the lower portion of a pig, specifically the belly and breastbone, behind the shoulder, and include 11 to 13 long bones. There is a covering of meat on top of the bones an ...
. The producer reasoned that if showing just a few frames would have a positive impact, showing it for several minutes would have a huge effect. * Subliminal psychological influence is also referenced frequently by the British
mentalist Mentalism is a performing art in which its practitioners, known as mentalists, appear to demonstrate highly developed mental or intuitive abilities. Performances may appear to include hypnosis, telepathy, clairvoyance, divination, precogniti ...
Derren Brown Derren Brown (born 27 February 1971) is an English mentalist, illusionist, painter, and author. He began performing in 1992, making his television debut with ''Derren Brown: Mind Control'' in 2000, and has since produced several more shows f ...
who claims its use as the basis of some of his effects. His declared methods are often decoys to divert attention from the real workings of his effects. *In the episode "With Fans Like These..." of the animated TV show '' Kappa Mikey'', Lily and Gonard threaten Guano made the public do their bidding by using subliminal messages in a fish stick commercial. * Subliminal encoding is the pretext of the television show
Chuck Chuck is a masculine given name or a nickname for Charles or Charlie. It may refer to: People Arts and entertainment * Chuck Alaimo, American saxophonist, leader of the Chuck Alaimo Quartet * Chuck Barris (1929–2017), American TV producer * C ...
. The main character receives an e-mail in which thousands and thousands of pictures flash right before his eyes, resulting in an ability to 'mind flash' on certain things, for example a ring or a picture of someone. * In an episode of '' The IT Crowd'', Douglas attempts to seduce Jen by putting a quick flash of his photo into a presentation. * Sue Townsend's 1992 novel/play '' The Queen and I'' is based on an alternate reality in which a leftist government takes power in the UK by the use of subliminal messages via television. * The entire plot of Thomas Stratton's "Man From U. N. C. L. E. #12: The Mind-Twisters Affair" is based upon the idea of subliminal messages. * In novel called "Quiller Barracuda," in the popular series about the fictional English
intelligence officer An intelligence officer is a person employed by an organization to collect, compile or analyze information (known as intelligence) which is of use to that organization. The word of ''officer'' is a working title, not a rank, used in the same way ...
who uses the cryptonym Quiller, the character contends with a plot by foreign economic interests to influence US presidential election results by using
television commercial A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...
s altered to include subliminal messages. * In the popular Tripod trilogy of
science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...
books for children written by John Christopher, some and yet not all of the books indicate that subliminal messaging via television was key part of the
alien invasion The alien invasion or space invasion is a common feature in science fiction stories and film, in which extraterrestrial lifeforms invade the Earth either to exterminate and supplant human life, enslave it under an intense state, harvest people ...
strategy used by the race that humans knew only as "the Masters." Christopher later write a prequel to the series, and the TV program in question was identified as " The Trippy Show, a show apparently aimed at young people." * The episode ''Gary Takes a Bath'' of the Nickelodeon series ''
SpongeBob SquarePants ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' (or simply ''SpongeBob'') is an American animated comedy television series created by marine science educator and animator Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon. It chronicles the adventures of the title character ...
'' had a scene based on subliminal stimuli. SpongeBob planned to assault Gary's mind with subliminals. It showed images of a shower head, a bath, and soap. After those, it cut to an image of a laughing girl. After that, it cut back to SpongeBob and Gary, with SpongeBob saying "Sorry you had to see that one". * In the ''
Gravity Falls ''Gravity Falls'' is an American mystery comedy animated television series created by Alex Hirsch for Disney Channel and Disney XD. The series follows the adventures of Dipper Pines ( Jason Ritter) and his twin sister Mabel ( Kristen Schaal) ...
'' episode ''Boyz Crazy'', Wendy breaks up with Robbie, and he plays a song for her, and she falls back in love with him. Dipper and Stan play the song backward, revealing a subliminal message "You are now under my control. Your mind is mine." They then play the reversed song for Wendy and she breaks up with him again. * In ''
The Amazing World of Gumball ''The Amazing World of Gumball'' is an animated sitcom created by Ben Bocquelet for Cartoon Network. The series concerns the lives of 12-year-old Gumball Watterson, an anthropomorphic blue cat, and adoptive goldfish brother Darwin, who attend ...
'' episode ''The Spoiler'', Anais puts on a Japanese program and asks Gumball if he'll take her to the movies. For one frame the program flashes "YES". Gumball says no. Anais asks, "But what about the subliminal message?" Gumball answers, "I don't understand Japanese." * The December 16, 1973 episode of '' Columbo'', titled "Double Exposure", is based on subliminal messaging: it is used by the murderer, Dr. Bart Keppler, a motivational research specialist, played by
Robert Culp Robert Martin Culp (August 16, 1930 – March 24, 2010) was an American actor widely known for his work in television. Culp earned an international reputation for his role as Kelly Robinson on ''I Spy'' (1965–1968), the espionage television se ...
, to lure his victim out of his seat during the viewing of a promotional film and by Lt. Columbo to bring Keppler back to the crime scene and incriminate him. Lt. Columbo is shown how subliminal cuts work in a scene mirroring
James Vicary James McDonald Vicary (April 30, 1915 – November 7, 1977) was a market researcher who pioneered the concept of subliminal advertising with an experiment in 1957, later determined to have been fraudulent. Vicary was unable to ever reproduce the r ...
's experiment.


References

{{Reflist Popular psychology