Ten Disturbing Trends in Subliminal Advertising.
Subliminal advertising has gone mainstream - fake news, mind control
scripts, propaganda and stealth voicemail are in wide use by
corporations, government bodies and industry groups.
By: Martin Howard
HowTheyChangeYourMind.com
Some of the biggest advertisers are taking their advertising away from
full page ads and television spots and spending up on hidden
persuasion. You won't find these secret messages in ice-cubes or
flickering film footage like they were in the sixties. Subliminal
advertising has gone mainstream - fake news, mind control scripts,
propaganda and stealth voicemail are in wide use by corporations,
government bodies, and industry groups. Have you spotted any of these?
1. Point of Sale Mind Control Scripts
Clothing store staff and car salesmen use them to close the deal -
carefully planned questions and subverbal cues to get you to sign. If
you've ever walked out of a store, after spending twice as much as you
wanted to, chances are you've fallen victim to one of these scripts.
The GAPACT is used by Gap staff to upsell you. Other salesmen use word
techniques to make you buy, even when you don't have the money -
because they make more by selling you 'easy' finance. When a car
salesmen takes you on a test drive and asks you "Is this the type of
vehicle you would like to own?", he is using a subtle mental framing
trick - it can create an embarrassing distraction while you drive. The
technique is called disassociation - which is the ideal state for
mental manipulation.
2. Doctor-Patient Drug Kick-backs
When a doctor recommends a certain heart medication or an
antidepressant, chances are he has been paid a cash bonuses and perks
by the manufacturer, making it difficult to give objective advice.
Some pharmaceutical firms have gone so far as to invent and promote a
new syndrome in order to create a market for a new drug! Social
Anxiety Disorder (SAD) was devised in 1998 and publicised by planting
fifty press stories and quizzes such as: "Do you have social anxiety
disorder?". Soon after, Smithkline Beecham released Paxil - the 'cure'
for SAD.
3. In-Store Sensory Manipulation
Scientifically tested visual displays, Muzak tapes, and even mind
altering scents combine to maximize impulse spending. Specially
designed music loops can keep shoppers in the supermarket for 18%
longer. One study into use of airborne aromas, pumped into a Canadian
mall, resulted in an increase of over $50 per customer that week. In
supermarkets, scientifically generated Planograms create the ideal
shelf arrangement for certain products, skewing the shopper's eyes
towards high value items. Companies pay slotting allowances for
favoured placement. Aisle layout are change regularly - which prevents
systematic shopping - forcing extra trips past the impulse item displays.
4. Private Conversation Rental
Positive buzz can be triggered artificially for a price. Marketers now
recruit secret 'buzz agents' to promote to their friends and family.
One buzz agency claims to have an army of agents in every major US
city. Their job is to mention or display certain products as they go
about their day, using their relationships as marketing channels.
Music labels, book sellers, entertainment venues, and fashion outlets
are using this method to establish new brands. Today's billion dollar
12-16 year olds are so immune to traditional advertising, mass media
is no longer a reliable persuasive device - so the alternative is a
'synthetic grapevine.'
5. Neuromarketing
Corporations are going to enormous lengths to probe the minds of
consumers - literally tapping into their brains. The Brighthouse
Institute for Thought Sciences, in Atlanta, is one lab that is
scanning people's brains with MRIs, in an effort to decode and record
our subconscious thoughts and devise more seductive advertising. The
process is being called neuromarketing. They are hoping to determine
specific biological triggers that can be used by language engineers to
stimulate purchases. This is the hi-tech fulfilment of pioneer
psychologists Freud and Jung who established the connection between
language and behaviour.
6. Chatbots and Stealth Voicemail
Personal phone messages from businesses or political campaigners can
turn up in your morning voicemail, having been delivered late the
previous night. Voicemail broadcasters like DialAmerica uses massive
computer installations to deliver identical copies of spoken messages
to millions of householder simultaneously. On the internet, chat room
'bots' masquerading as personal real buddies are actually distributed
simultaneously by powerful computers 24 hours a day. Virtual
word-of-mouth communication is replacing other promotional
technologies because of its speed and price.
7. Real-time Bugging of Personal Data
Your browser is probably revealing more than you might want: your
location, the software and hardware you are using, details of other
links you clicked on and your browsing habits. Many third party
dataminers use 'cookies' to track your path across the web. Extensive
realtime information is processed to target you. Larger databases
harvest your personal medical and financial records to be bought and
sold by interested companies and government departments. Datamining is
a fuzzy science that filters you personal information for links about
your personal behaviour and finances. These details are used in turn
to create elaborate marketing campaigns to sell you more stuff.
8. Sidewalk Stalkers
The public space of streets, neighborhoods and communities is being
mapped and targeted by viral marketers and fake grassroots
organizations. In some cases the campaigns are overt but,
increasingly, street 'agents' are making unannounced social
approaches. Fake tourists flash around the latest camera-phone to
passing crowds. 'Product seeders' circulate at sports events to find
influential young players to wear their gear. Others wander the street
wearing colored corporate tattoos. Personal space is the last frontier
for commerce. As citizens attempt to retreat from the deluge of media
advertising they can now be stalked when they step out the door.
9. Planted News Stories
Industry front groups, public relations firms and government
departments are planting news stories on TV, radio, newspapers and the
web. Those 'miracle drug' stories or research reports are often Video
News Release (VNRs). TV newsrooms love these prepackaged news items
that are distributed across the networks. It saves them time and money
but it is killing community news and genuine investigative reporting.
Real news items are being replaced by slick corporate promotions and
political messages. According to one Nielsen Media Research Survey,
about 80 percent of U.S. news directors air VNRs several times a
month, and all American television newsrooms now use VNRs in their
newscasts.
10. Government Propaganda
When it's time to launch a war or promote an unpopular policy, the
government needs special help to sell the idea through the media.
Opinion engineers are paid to "manage" public perception of
inconvenient facts, and turn them around for better. Using the
universal tools fear, patriotism, and phrase repetition, these high
flying spin doctors can easily sway the population. The most
successful public relations campaigns aim to change public perception
without our awareness of the campaign. They are typically launched by
governments, institutions and countries who need to change their
public image, restore their reputation or manipulate public opinion.
There are PR firms today who advise dictatorships, dishonest
politicians and corrupt industries to cover up environmental
catastrophes and human rights violations.
Martin Howard is a media researcher and author of "We Know What You
Want: How They Change Your Mind".
SOURCE: How They Change Your Mind,
http://www.howtheychangeyourmind.com/
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