Subliminal Advertising Is Fair :: essays research papers

Why Subliminal Advertising is Fair to American Consumers The United States ad industry consists of many ad agencies whose job it is to make sure that the American consumers buy their clients products. As many people get smart enough to look past the physical eye tricks the ad may play on them, the ad agencies has turned to subliminal messages to get their message across. From garbage bag advertisements to the advertisements for the hardest type of liquor you can buy, subliminal advertising will almost always affect you without you even knowing it, and its perfectly legal. If a company has the money, the time, and the sense to use the first amendment of the constitution, there is no reason why subliminal messages cannot appear in their advertisements. To produce a subliminal advertisement, a company must pour in a great deal of money to get the consumer wanting their product. An ad agency can spend anywhere up to $50,000 to create a single, one page magazine layout or flyer, carefully getting every detail to perfection. If a company chooses to use this kind of money to advertise, it is perfectly legal to do so. Subliminal messages are just a more efficient way of advertising by appealing to the consumers subconscious mind and bypassing their decision making mind, swaying them to need something they really do not. However, while subliminal messages may make consumers buy items, they also prevent theft. That elevator music you hear in Sears is not just there because the manager likes it. The first purpose of this music is to lull you into a shopping trance. You will also notice that there are no clocks in Sears. This is to make you loose all track of time if you don't have a watch and this in itself is subliminal. However, unde rneath the music, in a frequency only audible to the subconscious, there are messages like, "Do not shoplift", "Stealing is bad", and "Just buy it". The messages use key words which the human mind knows are wrong, even if a person's personality thinks they are okay. So subliminal messages prevent theft also. Making these messages also takes an incredible amount of time. The same advertisements that can take up to $50,000 to make, also take around 3 to 5 months to get every detail just right so the consumer thinks that the images just appear there by coincidence, if the images are even seen by the conscious mind at all.