Cigarette Ads on the Subliminal World Site
|
Introduction (click here for column free version of this introduction) This site is devoted to some forms of advertising that are generally (but inappropriately) known as subliminal advertising and also a number of ads that do not include subliminal elements and are thus best described as manipulative. All of the ads that are illustrated and discussed can all be summed up under the phrase manipulative advertising. An extremely large proportion of these ads originate from tobacco companies. These ads would generally be deemed unethical and can be considered to breach professional guidelines. In some countries (not the US nor the UK) they may also be illegal. Legal restrictions tend to apply to TV transmissions rather than to printed ads. ***** The ads in question can be sexy, cheeky, rude, disturbing, distressing, crude, cynical, depressing and, very occasionally, they may be humorous. Quite often, if you only look at them superficially, they appear boring. If you are of a sensitive nature, then stop here - but not for long. If you are insensitive then you need not bother continuing. But whatever your nature, in general, it pays to be curious.
The subject matter of the site is potentially rather serious and raises a variety of ethical issues. It may have the capacity to influence you without you being aware of this process. However, the site is constructed to provide an interesting and enjoyable experience. But, even if you find humour in the contents don't let that prevent you from getting annoyed or even angry with the tobacco companies and advertising agencies who have been, and continue to try, to influence you without your consent. ***** A number of surveys indicate that public attitudes are strongly against the use of subliminal advertising, though they are really focussing on semi-subliminal advertising i.e. ads with elements that are on the borderline of perceptual ability. This distinction in terminology is clarified later in column three of this introduction. How you feel personally about the thought of being manipulated by tobacco advertising will depend upon how much information you pick up from this site. Even if all you do is look at a few of the ads and the related commentary, learning about the techniques helps undermine their effectiveness. *****
Viewing the ads and reading the associated discussion material will assist you to discover how some advertising companies try to influence you without your knowing. Viewing the ads will also give you insight into how they try to influence you. If you wish, you can then turn the tables on the ad companies and their clients and prick their professional pomposity and arrogance by helping force them to publicly acknowledge what some of their colleagues have been doing. *****
|
For many years advertising professionals have attempted to convince critics that 'subliminal' advertising does not exist. See for example the author's correspondence with the Advertising Standards Association, the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising and various articles and adverts from theAmerican Association of Advertising Agencies. Professional spokespersons for the advertising industry have attempted to 'have their cake and eat it'. Not only do they deny the existence of the type of ads illustrated on this site they also have a subsidiary response to critics. They also state that ' If it [subliminal advertising] did exist, then it would not be effective. This seems a curious type of response as it seems reasonable to presume that experts and spokespersons for the advertising profession ought to know whether or not this type of advertising exists. Additionally, when it is used, they ought to know whether it is effective - and why would they use it if it were not effective in commercial items. ***** The only truly appropriate response to such defensive comments by advertising professionals is 'bulldust'. Semi-subliminal advertising is produced by the biggest and most powerful advertising agencies and their equally powerful clients. Either the chief executives of commissioning companies are among the most gullible individuals in the world (and might as well consult psychics when developing marketing plans) or their ad agencies and marketing departments have evidence demonstrating that such techniques are commercially effective (even if not testable with small samples of individuals in laboratories). This latter view, supporting an argument concerning commercial effectiveness even if the techniques are not verifiable in laboratory situations, will seem most likely after you have viewed some of the cigarette ads. ***** View the ads and demonstrate that advertising agencies and their clients are not the only individuals who are capable of perceiving the manipulative intentions lying behind the use of such ads. *****
Smokers and potential smokers in the UK and United States of America, in particular, are recommended to give careful consideration to the activities of ad agencies responsible for
|
cigarette advertising. As noted earlier, cigarette ads constitute a disproportionate amount of the semi-subliminal ads. Concerned individuals should also consider the impact of such ads on young children, who may be more perceptive than the average adult where the 'recognition' of embedded elements in ads are concerned. ***** Why does the banner and logo of this site and the preceding text refer to 'semi-subliminal' advertising and not just subliminal advertising? Most of the literature on this subject refers to Subliminal Ads. But, if one accepts the standard definition of what is meant by the term subliminal these ads are not subliminal at all.
Subliminal images cannot be perceived consciously. As will be noted, most of the ads in these pages, despite what they would normally be called, contain images that can be perceived. Recognition, however, often only occurs with some difficulty. These ads contain images that are almost, but not actually, subliminal. To be more precise, the ads contain semi-subliminal images. A more appropriate, but rather cumbersome, term is marginally perceptible images. Others would refer to secondary images. But, regardless of the term you prefer to make use of, note that these ads are manipulative. But not all manipulative ads contain semi-subliminal material. All semi-subliminal ads are manipulative in nature but not all manipulative ads contain semi-subliminal elements. ***** A variety of ads are presented to demonstrate that semi-subliminal advertising is a relatively common type of cigarette advertising and has been so for many years. Ads using puns, word play, and other devices can be equally manipulative. Some of these are also discussed for good measure and to add additional interest. Other than the fact that all these ads are manipulative in intent, in that they do not allow viewers to reflect upon information, the ads conform to the standard parameters for visual or lifestyle type ads. That is, the ads rarely make claims about products. They simply present images for the viewer to interpret in the light of their own interests, biases and knowledge. And much of that knowledge has, of course, come from advertising and promotional activities. ***** The distinction between normal ads and semi-subliminal is made clear using ads for Absolut Vodka, Stella Artois lager and other ads on the What's Subliminal pages. But feel free to skip straight to the cigarette ads. ***** You
can now choose to skip the rest of this introductory page and seek
out ads of interest to you. If you choose the straightforward method
of navigation and progress using the next page
|
Definitions of many of the technical words can be found in the Glossary
Answers to many common questions on the FAQ pages.
Listed books can be found in the Bibliography
|
Revised : June, 2001. No further changes will be made to this page. If you wish to view additional material you will need to view the Full Site. Click here for the Full Site Home Page . |
button
you will shortly come across these ads. If you intend to take a more
interesting route and chart your own way through the pages using the
info in the Navigation Zone and other hyperlinks then you are recommended
ast some point to remind yourself of the background and history of
the subject of 
