Nexus - 0210 - New Times Magazine-pages

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staff are said to receive the message without realising it, and to react accordingly." Other subliminal techniques include the one dreamed up by the US magazine, New Woman, known as subliminal syn- ergism, which the magazine claimed made more readers look at ads. The method involves placing dominant colours from four-colour advertisements behind headline blocks on facing editorial pages - the effect - to cause the reader to move her eyes automatically from the editorial to the adver- tisement. near New Orleans using a twelve week clinical programme which used subliminal audio and visual stimuli. He sus- tained weight loss for hundreds of obese patients. His pro- gramme was recognised by the New Orleans Medical Society. Becker also developed an anti-theft programme tested in a large number of Canadian and US retail stores. He designed an audio input which inserts a subliminally perceived voice repeating admonitions against stealing into store music sys- tems. ~The subliminal voice, 30-40 decibels under the music is recorded on an endless loop tape cassette and is undetectable . even with sophisticated instruments. The low level of the ADVERTISING: - THE WANT MAKERS subliminal voice varies instantaneously against changes in ric Clark has commented that the more we are bom- supraliminal (consciously perceived) music volume. barded with advertising, the less we notice it, and yet, The message repeated J am honest, I won't steal. Stealing almost certainly we are affected. Today, advertising is dishonest, and similar phrases. This simple induction _ is vast, increasingly global and more scientific in its meth- technique could easily be used to sell high profit merchan- _ ods. dise, or - for that matter, political or ideological indoctrina- Any analysis of advertising content on T.V. reveals tion. evenings of total absurdity as men and women discuss their In 1986, The Times hailed “a revolutionary and controver- _— constipation, bad breath, body odours, backaches, indiges- sial security system poised to make its appearance in the __ tion and an incredible assortment of psychosomatic ailments high street this year ... known as reinforcement messaging, — before millions of viewers. the new system broadcasts messages like be honest - do not Women on television commercials appear as neurotic steal, over a store's loudspeakers at exactly the threshold of — morons whose main life interest involves their never quite hearing so that it is just audible if you stand next to the white enough laundry, their relentless search for a kitchen speaker. A computer monitors background noise or in-store —_ free of stains, germs, odours and smells. And the greatest music and maintains output at a pre-set level. Shoppers and banality of them all seems to be the struggle to obtain really soft toilet tissue. Television advertisements are obsessed with the never ending quest for cleanliness and the elimination of “dirt” The three most common forms of modern in all its forms - dust, grime, grease, mould, baked on dirt, ji caked on dirt, dirt from children, dirt from men, dirt from behaviour therap yar pets. Dirt on the body, in your mouth, on your hair, on i) Operant Conditioning : Reinforcement your clothes, on the floor, on the carpet, on the walls. ° Dirt is everywhere. of behaviour by nr ewar' d, often There are a stunning array of products to eliminate accompanied by simultaneous sound and "dirt": mould killers, cockroach bombs, baits and sprays, . “ 4 disinfectants, toilet "ducks", blue loos, toothpastes, plaque light stimulation destroyer, and the latest in oral hygiene - dental health ii) Aversion Therapy : Inhibition of chewing gum. a behavi b inful I t Whiteness is another powerful conditioning factor. We enaviour by a paintul or unpieasan are encouraged by advertising to whiten clothes, leave our reinforcement using any technique which _| sinks and wilets shining white. Whiteness has become produces fear and avoidance synonymous with purity, cleanliness and social success. We eat white sugar, white flour and drink white milk. iii) Desensitization : The subject is first ‘When st coures #) #8 crunch, most poopie dant realise A lax b d hi | tat that the products purchased, and the ones decided against, trained to relax beyond his normal state, pes Sate teplatenercemineerech—n then presented with images that invke The grocery giant Unilever is a good example. : + ea Unilever and a few other giant corporations dominate the mild anxiety. a The Images are rep eated Australian food market, often hiding virtual monopolies until the subject shows no anxiety, then a behind shelves full of "competing" labels. stronger image is introduced and the As the number of products and brands on the shelves * . ° increases daily, the number of companies behind the process is repea ted. Finally the subject penadioiliedinr ta ghemese endl uibserash. becomes desensitized to even the The result is the formation of an oligopoly. Consumers, re image. wooed by advertisements exhorting them to do the best st ongest PONEE for their families are generally choosing from the products of a few companies. ric Clark has commented that the more we are bom- barded with advertising, the less we notice it, and yet, almost certainly we are affected. Today, advertising is vast, increasingly global and more scientific in its meth- ods. Any analysis of advertising content on T.V. reveals evenings of total absurdity as men and women discuss their constipation, bad breath, body odours, backaches, indiges- tion and an incredible assortment of psychosomatic ailments before millions of viewers. 12*NEXUS ADVERTISING: - THE WANT MAKERS OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 1992