George W. Bush's (You Will Read This Article) Political Ads
Sept. 14, 2000 -- Claims that George W. Bush's presidential campaign has used subliminal messages -- specifically the flashing of the word "RATS" on the screen for a split second-- has dredged up 40-year-old claims that people can be induced by this controversial technique to vote for a candidate or crave popcorn, soft drinks, or a whole host of other products.
"If someone deliberately did this they were incredibly stupid," Anthony Greenwald, PhD, tells WebMD. "The effect of subliminal content on any significant behavior such as voting is totally unestablished. Plus there's the risk of getting caught doing it, in which case people just question your motives and think that you are being sneaky." Greenwald is a professor of psychology at the University of Washington in Seattle who has studied the use and effects of psychology in the media and political campaigns. The Republican Party has said the use of the word "rats" was accidental and denied that it deliberately produced a commercial with a subliminal message.
Over the years, some extraordinary claims have been made concerning the power of subliminal perception, or deception, depending upon how you look at it. Perhaps the most widely known claim was made in 1957 by James Vicary, a market researcher. He claimed that over a six-week period, more than 45,000 patrons at a movie theater in Fort Lee, New Jersey were shown two advertising messages, "Eat Popcorn" and "Drink Coca-Cola", while they watched the film Picnic. According to Vicary, a message was flashed for 3/1,000 of a second once every five seconds. The duration of the messages was so short that they were never consciously perceived. Despite the fact that the customers were not aware of perceiving the messages, Vicary claimed that over the six-week period the sales of popcorn rose 58% and the sales of Coca-Cola rose 18%.
Vicary's claims are often accepted as established facts. However, Vicary never released a detailed description of his study and there has never has been any independent evidence to support his claims. Also, in an interview with Advertising Age in 1962, Vicary stated that the original study was a fabrication. Still, despite the admission, many people believe it happened.