Wilson Bryan Key Ph.D. (January 31, 1925 – October 8, 2008) was the author of several books about

subliminal Subliminal may refer to: * Subliminal stimuli, sensory stimuli below an individual's threshold for conscious perception * Subliminal channel, in cryptography, a covert channel that can be used over an insecure channel * Subliminal (rapper) (born ...

messages and subliminal advertising.

Career

Key obtained his doctorate in communications from the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private university, private research university in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1864, it is the oldest independent private university in the Mountain States, Rocky Mountain Region of the United States. It is ...

and taught journalism for a short period of time at the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by resident ...

. He was a colleague and friend of

Marshall McLuhan Herbert Marshall McLuhan (July 21, 1911 – December 31, 1980) was a Canadian philosopher whose work is among the cornerstones of the study of media theory. He studied at the University of Manitoba and the University of Cambridge. He began his ...

. A US court case in 1990 accused the English Heavy Metal Band

Judas Priest Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band formed in Birmingham in 1969. They have sold over 50 million albums and are frequently ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Despite an innovative and pioneering body of work in th ...

of causing suicide through subliminal messaging. Key advised the plaintiffs lawyer to hire Bill Nickloff, an audio engineer, to find the subliminal messaging. The judge found that the defendant was not responsible for the deaths.

Death

Key died following complications resulting from surgery. He is interred at the Northern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in

Fernley, Nevada Fernley is a city in Lyon County, Nevada, United States, and part of the Reno–Sparks metropolitan area CSA. The city was incorporated in 2001. The population of the city was 19,368 at the 2010 census. Fernley was home to the historic and on ...

Criticism

His results and conclusions have been challenged, in books including the following: * * Reprinted in ''Encounters with the Paranormal: Science, Knowledge, and Belief'', edited by Kendrick Frazier, Prometheus Books, 1998, 253–263. * Reprinted in ''Encounters with the Paranormal: Science, Knowledge, and Belief'', edited by Kendrick Frazier, Prometheus Books, 1998, 240–252.

Bibliography

* ''Subliminal Seduction: Are You Being Sexually Aroused By This Picture?'' a.k.a. ''Ad Media's Manipulation of a Not So Innocent America'' (1974). Introduction by

. Prentice-Hall, Inc. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: . * ''Media Sexploitation'' (1976). Prentice-Hall, Inc. * ''The Clam-Plate Orgy: And Other Subliminal Techniques for Manipulating Your Behavior'' (1980). Signet. ** reissued as ''Subliminal Ad-Ventures in Erotic Art'' (1992). Branden Books. * ''The Age of Manipulation: The Con in Confidence, The Sin in Sincere'' (1989). H. Holt.

References

External links

''The Straight Dope'': "Are subliminal messages secretly embedded in advertisements?" (1987)

Interview with Wilson Bryan Key
Source Material for ''Brainwash: The Secret History of Mind Control'' (by phone, March 27, 2005) {{DEFAULTSORT:Key, Wilson Bryan 1925 births 2008 deaths People from Richmond, California Mind control theorists University of Western Ontario faculty University of Denver alumni 20th-century American non-fiction writers American male writers Male non-fiction writers 20th-century American male writers