From a psychology standpoint, subliminal ads are more about getting your familiar with something to the point it makes you prefer it than they are about making you do something against your will. Repetition is a common advertising technique in general, but on a subliminal level this can happen more times.

Oddly, I first learned about how subliminal ads work from my high school economics teacher. It was his hobby, and he had an extensive collection of magazine ads all the way back from the 1950s. The technique has been around for a long time: in print, movies, television, and most likely the Internet in some cases.

How subliminal ads work is actually pretty interesting. In print, a somewhat hidden image or word automatically grabs your attention or elicits an emotional response. The overall result is you look at the ad longer than you normally would. Your subconscious knows something isn't right, but on a conscious level you may just be think the ad is interesting and not understand why.

If you know what you're looking for, most subliminal aspects in adds are not completely hidden. Most people just browse magazines however and don't look at ads in detail. Some print examples my teacher showed us were skull-like shapes and even a shark hidden in the reflection of glass bottles, giving a person a slight fear response subconsciously. Probably the most drastic thing he found in an ad was a woman with a third leg (shoe and everything) airbrushed into a picture! With airbrush computer programs, words can also be hidden in buildings and even someone's hair. The most popular word used: Sex.

When it comes to moving images in movies and television, subliminal ads work by making you act on a need you already have. For something to work, for example a quick flash of "drink Coca-Cola" during a movie, you have to be thirsty in the first place. When you get to the counter, there is at least some scientific evidence that you would pick Coca-Cola over other soft drinks offered at that time. Again, it's more about making you familiar with the product than creating a need that you didn't have already.

The good news is it seems to be nearly impossible to prompt someone to act on something they don't want to do consciously. Subliminal ads in that respect are not some weird form of mind control. They're just a somewhat sneaky way of getting your attention.

So the next time you pick up a magazine or watch a good movie, realize there may be more there than it seems...

Learn more about this author, Patricia Gilliam.
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