Subliminal Messages

BACKGROUND: In itself- the title and the song are all suggestive in the first place.

BACKGROUND: When this song came out, not only was it an immediate hit, it was also

popular with schools and proms. They didn't realize the extensive satanic message in it.

BACKGROUND: This gay band might have been convincing people to smoke marijuana because

The Sgt. Pepper cover depicts a funeral for "The Beatles" (written in flowers over the grave). There is also a bass guitar made up of flowers. Closer inspection of this "bass guitar" shows that the flowers that make it up actually spell "PAUL?" indicating his questioned existance.

If the Beatles are the undisputed titans of pop music, then this is the Titanic of rock myths. In 1969, Beatlemaniacs -- and who in the world wasn't one, by then? -- were buzzing with the bizarre rumor that Paul McCartney had been dead since 1966, the victim of a car crash in his Aston-Martin on a rainy night following a recording session at Abbey Road. The surviving band members, distraught, were said to have scrambled to find an impersonator. Then they began the slow process of dropping hints about the incident: "Here's another clue for you all," John Lennon sang on "Glass Onion." "The walrus was Paul." The walrus was said to be an ancient symbol of death in several cultures (Roman, Arctic). During the eerie outro of "Strawberry Fields," a muffled voice can be heard apparently saying "I buried Paul." And on the cover of Abbey Road, Paul is barefoot (the corpse), John is in white (the angel), Ringo in black (the clergyman) and George in denim (the gravedigger). The dead man has since gone on to record dozens of solo records, compose symphonies, be knighted . . . and get busted for pot.

From my understanding, this all started with a phone call to a radio station from a college man who said he deduced from clues on Beatle albums that Paul was dead. For whatever reasons this rumor spread like wild fire. It certainly didn't hurt Beatle sales, and The Beatles didn't say much about the whole thing. John said it was crazy, Paul's first comment actually fanned the rumor. He said, "If I were dead I'd be the last to know." (I think that's a Mark Twain quote). But anyway, besides the fact that The Beatles had not been in the public eye much at the time, and Paul was quietly at work producing Mary Hopkins, and the press was desperate for a Beatle story, I still think there's more here than meets the eye.

Here is what was supposed to have happened: The story was that Paul McCartney had died in a car accident at 5:00 a.m. on Wednesday, November 9, 1966. 'Paul McCartney Dead: The Great Hoax' suggested that Paul had picked up a female hitchhiker on his way to visit friends. The woman became so excited when she realized who had picked her up that she threw her arms around Paul and caused him to lose control of the car. Both Paul and his passenger were killed when the car swerved off the road and hit a stone fence. And here's where the story takes a turn toward the ludicrous—Paul was decapitated in the accident and the trauma to his head was so severe that even his dental records were useless in identifying the victim! Not wanting to lose potential record sales, record company executives suppressed the story of Paul's death and brought in a lookalike to replace him. For some reason (this is the part where you have to suspend disbelief) the surviving Beatles agreed to go along with this scheme, but they left clues on all of their subsequent albums about Paul's death and the imposter who took his place. Paul's stand-in was a man named William Campbell, who had won a Paul McCartney look-alike contest. With a little plastic surgery, William Campbell had taken Paul's place in photos of the group. The surgery had been successful except for a small scar above his lip. And, as luck would have it, William Campbell could also sing and just happened to be a songwriter with an exceptional ear for pop melodies.

The Beatles all denied that they had perpetrated a hoax and insisted that none of the "clues" about Paul's supposed death had any significance whatsoever. I'm inclined to believe them, and lean toward unintentional "clues." Especially now, knowing all the hard times the group was going through that lead to their demise.

I think a rift, or The Rift, seems to have started with Paul's mega hit Yesterday, coupled with John's statement about being bigger than Jesus. John was a very insecure man, and he really did resent Paul being the cute one, and was jealous of Paul's success's. There was friendship, yes, but there was also an extremely strong state of competition between the two. Turns out this was great for song writing, but in the beginning they were a team, a 50 50 songwriting team. They'd sit across from each other and write songs together. This later turned into writing separately from each other and trying to one up the other. We know now that this style of writing is doomed, it can't keep going. One has to lose, one wins. Paul was winning. He wrote more songs and had more number 1 hits than John. Remember, John was by nature very insecure, and his lack of self confidence was fulfilled at the time by the fans.

But Paul also suffered from a very human character defect. He had a huge ego, and it showed. It wasn't beneath him to rub it in when things were going great for him. In the beginning John was considered the leader. Slowly Paul was taking over, and then rapidly after Brian died. The other three resented Paul. A serious clash was brewing. Paul was looking for approval for his amazing talent as were the others, but they weren't getting it from each other. It didn't matter that the whole world loved them, their world was much smaller and consisted of mostly each other.

John's statement that The Beatles were bigger than Jesus was made to a friend/journalist and printed in the British press months before without any noise, but when it was picked up in America (the holy land of Gawd), John was recieving death threats and was 'exremely' paranoid about being shot. A concert in Alabama was actively protested by the KKK, while kids in the bible belt burned Beatles records and books with the blessing of the holy DJs. And, though they stood side by side with John in front of the cameras while John defended himself, the other three were actually very resentful toward John. Touring was eventually stopped and music was made in the studio. The public was not getting their Beatle fixes frequently enough.

Now back to the Paul is Dead clues. I think this was mostly a result of Paul's ego. He began to try to stand out from the others. He wore a different color carnation in the now famous Magical Mystery Tour sequence. His later comment that they ran out of the red ones is possible, but absurd. Ask a florist how difficult it is to mutate a black carnation. He turned his back to the camera on the back of the cover of Sgt Pepper, as if he was the maestro conducting the other three. His face on the 8 x 10 glossies that came with The White album was huge. They were supposed to be 4 portraits of each Beatle. His was so close up you could count his nose hairs. Was all this intentional? Probably not all of it, but does it really matter? Being the only shoe-less one out of step on Abbey Rd might have been an accident, but it speaks volumes about Paul and the others. And some of it must have been on purpose. Paul is smoking a cigarette, also known as a "coffin nail". He is holding the cigarette in his right hand, even though the real Paul McCartney was left handed.
Was Paul's way of hinting to the world that he was the main Beatle being misunderstood as Paul was the dead Beatle? Hmmm...

There are a few weird things that leads me to believe that John had a bit of fun with it, after the fact. Just before Blackbird on The White album, if you play John's mumbling backwards, it sure sounds like, "Paul is a dead man, Paul is a dead man, miss him, miss him, miss him." But Number 9 backwards sounds a like 'turn me on dead man' just because that's what number 9 backwards sounds like. I think John's only intention when making Revolution 9 was to make an avant garde recording. Oh, at the time, many believed everything was placed there by the Beatles with the intent to let you know Paul was dead (ask any fan from that time), and one could search and find anything one wanted to believe, and Revolution Number 9 was the most used example. Other White Album clues were "Don't Pass Me By", where Ringo expresses his regret at the tragic turn of events after Paul's angry departure from the studio one evening: "I listen for your footsteps coming up the drive/I listen for your footsteps but they don't arrive." George moans "Paul, Paul" at the end of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps."

It all really got out of hand. I had a great time of it. Lot's of bizarre coincidences. I wish I could have wrote this article then, when I was full of enthusiasm about it all. The hand over Paul's head, Paul sitting behind a sign that said "I WAS," Revolution Number 9 backwards, 28IF on the 'Beetle' Volks wagon on Abbey Rd meant Paul would have been 28 IF he had lived. The major problem with that is he would have been 27, but not to worry. In some Indian culture somewhere they count the 9 months in the womb as your first year, so it all made sense (sarcasm). John was the minister, Ringo the undertaker, Paul the corpse, and George the gravedigger.

The OPD badge that was given to him by the Ontario Police Dept suddenly meant officially pronounced dead. Lennon's inspiration from The Walrus and the Carpenter was replaced with the belief that the walrus was a death symbol in Greenland or something. Ha, again. Most clues were a real stretch. John's 'cranberry sauce' at the end of Strawberry Fields at the time was heard as 'I buried Paul.' And it went on and on. I hope you find one of the better web sites that goes into some of the clues. No one could cover them all.

It was a cool event to live through, and it's a big part of Beatle history. I don't want to attempt to start listing all the clues because of my perfectionism streak. I know I can't list them all so I won't even try. Besides, to me it's more interesting to decipher the psychological dynamics that were at work among the Beatles that resulted in such weird deductions from fans. It wasn't the clues and sounds and pictures so much as the personalities behind the art.

If looked at with a sensible attitude rather than the belief that The Beatles actually inserted codes into their work to hint to fans that Paul had died, I think you can tell a lot about the group. It's too bad really, that two best friends could become such bitter enemies while singing songs like All You Need is Love. What a mess things had become. Perhaps Paul died as a Beatle? Well, they all did didn't they? But maybe if died first? Paul became very depressed over that break up, though he's the one who instigated the lawsuit to dissolve the group. If only he'd waited. If only this, if only that. I happen to be looking at the Let It Be cover right now. Isn't it odd that Paul is looking straight ahead while the others are looking to left. Almost looking away from Paul. But just look at them. Lennon and McCartney's 'lovers spat' completely overshadowing George's talent. Ringo, well he was just happy to be the Beatles drummer. They all forget something vitally important that Brian Epstein told them about the survival of the group. He told them that they were each 25% of the whole. No one can be the Beatles without the other three. And maybe, just maybe, Paul was the first to forget this, and by doing so died as a Beatle. All rumors are based on some facts. And it seems to me, though I've only slightly touched on the subject, that this is what happened. At least in part.

And now, 44 years later, the world is rediscovering The Beatles. Not the break up or the fighting, but the four lads that were friends and belonged in a band together. We remember when we all lived in a yellow submarine, were all

together now, and all you needed was love. And those four guys put their life's into that dream and gave it to the world. That light will never dim. For those that came here to find out about the Paul is dead thing, I'm sorry if I've disappointed you. John is dead. George is dead. Ringo still plays drums in his unique and amazing way. Paul is working his butt off doing many things, seemingly revitalized by a new young wife. His pop music still misses that Lennon edge, Harrison guitar, and Ringo back beat.

Even Paul had some fun with it on his 'Paul is Live' album. The cover of Paul Is Live shows him with his dog on the famous Abbey Road crosswalk—hardly a funeral procession. In the background of the album cover photo is a Volkswagen Beetle with the license plate reading "51 IS". Rather than being dead in his twenties, Paul was still alive and making music at age 51.

The Beatles? They live on right here in my heart, every bit as big as Jesus.

According to one version of the "Paul is dead" rumor, Paul left the recording studio after arguing with Ringo. In his song "Don't Pass Me By", Ringo expresses his regret at the tragic turn of events after Paul's angry departure from the studio: "I listen for your footsteps coming up the drive/I listen for your footsteps but they don't arrive" George moans "Paul, Paul" at the end of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and John expresses his anguish over Paul's death in "I'm So Tired". At the end of "I'm So Tired" John utters some gibberish

. The song "Glass Onion" makes a number of references to Beatle songs and events. John mentions "The Fool on the Hill" and states, "I tell you man he living there still". Perhaps the most intriguing line in the song, however, is "Well here's another clue for you all/The walrus was Paul." In the odd conclusion to "Cry Baby Cry", Paul asks "Can you take me where I came from?/Can you take me back?" This leads into "Revolution 9", the track that is perhaps the most analyzed for "Paul is dead" clues. In the late 1950s, an experiment was performed that would affect the world, even though it went relatively unnoticed. In Fort Lee, New Jersey, a movie theater ran the messages "Eat Popcorn" and "Drink Coke" every five seconds throughout the movies they showed. In six weeks, the sales of Coca-Cola went up 18 percent while popcorn sales rose an astronomical 58 percent.

Why would moviegoers accept these advertisements and not simply storm out of the theater, annoyed and resolute not to purchase any soda or popcorn?

The reason is these messages were only flashed for three-tenths of a millisecond, or one 3000th of a second, a time that does not allow the moviegoer to consciously "see" the message.

This one theater would spawn a fear that would persist to the present, that advertisers could brainwash the general public and make them, in essence, their slaves who do their bidding and purchase products that would be marketed with "invisible" advertisements.

There were many responses to subliminal advertising, by both the public and the government, by advertising agencies and by interested third parties who wanted to experiment with this novel form of communication.

Many of the earliest experiments with subliminal messages were carried out by rock bands like Pink Floyd and the Beatles who recorded secret messages that could only be "heard" by playing certain songs backward at the right speed.

For example, in the song, "I'm So Tired" by The Beatles, there comes a point in the song that sounds like gibberish, sounds that lack any meaning whatsoever and makes the listener believe the Beatles may have played too much with "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds."

However, when the gibberish portion of the song is played backwards, the listener can hear John Lennon's voice creepily saying, "Paul is a dead man. Miss him. Miss him. Miss him."

Another song that exemplifies early experimentation with subliminal messaging is Pink Floyd's "Empty Spaces."

If one plays the track backwards, he can hear the words "Congratulations. You have just discovered the secret message. Please send your answer to old pink, care of the funny farm, Chalfont."

Apart from such innocent, comical messages, there are repeated rumors that the band Queen played "It's fun to smoke marijuana" subliminally in their song "Another One Bites the Dust" and that Britney Spears implanted "Sleep with me, I'm not too young," in her song "Hit Me Baby One More Time."

If these backward messages really could serve as tools that could affect people subliminally, then shouldn't our government do something about it?

The Federal Communications Commission thought so and in 1974, it banned companies from using subliminal messages on television and radio programs.

The real question to ponder is, "Is there a thereat of being subliminally controlled by marketers?" The answer may seem to be obviously "yes." Since advertisers began working with psychologists to unravel the human mind, leaps and bounds have been made in the area of marketing.

Since true subliminal (invisible) marketing can no longer be presented, advertisers have created pseudo-subliminal messages in our today's media.

Some are obvious, like product placements in movies, but even the structure of the typical action movie is a form of subliminal advertisement.

There is always going to be a sexy heroine and sexual innuendo, which subliminally make the movie very appealing to a lot of people.

Then there are the pop-ups and banners, which are everywhere you look on the Internet, engraining their messages into viewer's brains.

Over time, advertisements have become much more than simple communications that tell consumers about a product. They have become mini-stories, featuring major popular culture icons of then and now, and most of all, they frequently try to appeal to emotions.

When some person comes on screen and the viewer recognizes them as someone of stature who has achieved something in his or her life, subconsciously the viewers probably want to do what the advertising pitchman did to succeed.

In the movie Josie and the Pussycats a record company put subliminal messages into the Pussycats' songs to control what teenagers purchased, creating fads that seem ludicrous and are highly satirical of today's popular culture.

However, the teenagers themselves don't overpower the machine using their minds but the rock and roll band destroys the machine by exposing the subliminal messages that were in the songs (the band did not know abou them originally) — either way, no subliminal messages are good for teenage America.

Additionally, psychologists have tested subliminal messages and found that they are not as powerful as initially thought.

When examined more carefully, it was found that the procedure used for the Fort Lee theater experiment was a hoax, as admitted by the so-called "puppet masters."

Additionally, the results have never been able to be reproduced in the multitudes of experiments that followed the theater "experiment."

In fact, psychologists believe that the success stories for "self-help" tapes that use subliminal messages is due largely to the placebo effect, where many of the earliest experiments with subliminal messages were carried out by rock and roll bands like Pink Floyd and the Beatles who recorded secret messages that could only be "heard" by playing certain songs backwards at the right speed.

Essentially, the people who use "self-help" tapes imagine that the tapes are working since they were told they would work, and so the desired response occurs since the people blindly believe in the tape.

The famous rock band Judas Priest was brought to court when detectives and parents believed that a subliminal message in one of their records resulted in the suicides of two teenagers.

They were found not guilty due to the evidence that confirmed that subliminal messages do not produce any effects that would alter or affect the conduct of those who are exposed to the subliminal messages.

The "backward" messages in these songs don't make any sense whatsoever when played the normal way they were designed to be played (e.g. the gibberish you hear when listening to "I'm So Tired) and therefore can't be understood or persuade one to take in any ideas subconsiously. Our minds may sense these secreat messages but will not be able to percieve them.

The scare may not be as big as it was in the past but, one should be ware and pay attention to what they are watching. Yet our unique choices allow neither destined advertisements, nor chosen events in future years of uplifting, whimsical and new times, to overwhelm.

(Subliminal message warning for the above sentence: first letter of every word). Recently I had heard from a few different websites that I frequent that the Exorcist contained subliminal messages. So, I decided to grab a copy of the movie, and see for myself.

I found that there are several possible messages that have been inserted into the movie, they are:

Each of these images are able to be seen in full speed as just a little flash. You'll have to pay very good attention for any thing that looks like a flash, rewind past it, then slow the tape down some.

If you would like to see these without having to basically watch the movie in slow motion, you can get "The Version You've Never Seen" which has the messages displayed very clearly.

Personally I don't think that the messages that were put in the movie were designed with malice intent, but to create more unease, and fear, in the viewer to make the experience more memorable. However, there were still subliminal messages added into the movie, so this does qualify under the project. I'm going to re-watch this movie, and see if there's anything I could have missed.

Note: These are not in the theatrical version of the movie. You have to get an "uncut" copy.

Disney

Whew! This turned out much more than I expected. Spent quite a while looking through stuff, trying to find out what was rumour, propaganda and which was fact.

Disney has a long history of subliminal messaging, and "inside jokes" dating back to the earliest days when Walt Disney himself was involved in the creation of the animated shorts.

Right now going to look at just two of the more modern movies. Rescuers Down Under, and The Lion King.

The movie Rescuers Down Under, the Original theatrical release, and the second printing of the video (not included in the first release on video) there is two frames of a topless model as Bernard and Bianca take off on the albatross. During the original run, everyone at Disney knew it was there, but didn't mind because it was pre- video "freezing". During the second release to video either someone "forgot" or they didn't feel it would be a big deal. Intentional? They later recalled these tapes.
View the clips:
http://www.snopes.com/disney/films/rescuers.htm

The movie The Lion King has a scene in which Simba flops down on a pile of leaves. The leaves blow into the air and form the word S-E-X. Or so the rumour goes. Disney has of course denied this (would they do anything else?) and the debate began. The most popular theory (and one since confirmed by Disney) is that the letters are S-F-X referring to the special effects department. S-E-X, S-F-X, either one is a "subliminal message" just which message are we supposed to be getting? The more popular S-F-X theory also fits in with the history Disney has of the animators slipping in a little credit within the film.

The Little Mermaid.

The Little Mermaid is rather a hot topic for the subliminal messaging stuff.

Let's start with the front cover. Does it or does it not show a penis in the central spiral. The official report says "no, it was an accident" but how many have seen the spiral? if not, here is the picture http://www.snopes.com/disney/films/mermaid.htm. Personal opinion, that looks way too much like the real deal to be a coincidence. The story that it was intentional by a upset employee does appear confirmed false. So, the third story is, yes it was intentional, but never meant to look THAT much like it. It was 4 am, deadline was coming way too fast to redo it, so they sent it on believing it would be caught and corrected in editing. OOPS, it didn't. http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mdisneyperv.html. This third possiblity was given by co-workers. The "completely accidental" story is the story that the artist himself gives whenever interviewed, and what Disney says. Regardless, Disney modified the artwork, not redrawing it, but shrinking it, using the same artwork, just making it slightly smaller and less noticable. So, having been shown the resemblence, they didn't change it, just made it smaller? (Btw, I also own the original video, have seen the first cover up close and personal)

The second issue is the er, "extreme interest" the priest displays in Ariel's wedding. This one is false. An enlarged frame by frame shows that the erection that was believed to be there was in fact his knee.

Also, non-subliminal?, a clear shot of Mickey, Donald and Goofy can be seen in the crowd that Triton passes over in the beginning of the movie. A ploy to get people to want to buy other videos? Or just a fun joke?

Disney loves to plant characters from one movie in another. In the movie the Hunchback of Notre Dame Belle (from Beauty and the Beast) is seen briefly walking through the street. In Aladin, there is a shot of Sabastian the crab (Little Mermaid) when Genie is pulling out tricks to "remodel" Aladin. Does one look at that as just a "Fun with animation" or is it a subliminal attempt to sell the other movies?

quote:
The Beatle's song "Help" contains an interesting backward message. This song was recorded at around the time the Beatles began to experiment with drugs. The reversal says. "Now he uses marijuana." There is no superimposed soundtrack and the chorus also sings marijuana in the background

John Lennon - How do you sleep - Hey, poor Lindy. So mean, gets him nowhere

Here is a reversal on Credence Clearwater revival found by RS hobbyist, Tony Feo. It says, "I believe in my cool woman."

Ringo Starr - Honey Dont - My God is so stubborn

Santana: And I'll remind you to say yes
George Harrison: While my guitar gently weeps - Pass the gun now. It kills the love, the love is cold

Paul McCartney: Band On The Run - Marijuana, marijuana. The law, law will banish us (Ironically Paul McCartney was banished from entering Japan again after an ounce of marijuana was found in his luggage in the late 70s - several years after this song was recorded)

Roy Orbison - Get out, get out, get out people

Eric Clapton - Cocaine - I'm so wicked

Sting - He scared me hidden. Hear me please

Santana - I Love Satan within

Cheap Trick - "Gonna Raise Hell" - Satan holds the keys to the lock

Deep Purple - Black Knight - Oh demon thats leading from hell, we believe
This is an interesting little jingle put out by the BBC in the early 20s when radio was first introduced. Some people thought back then that radio was satanic and you could get possessed by listening to it. Sound familiar? The speech reversal says, "This is not a noose. No, its really not." Or, radio won't hurt you."

The Carpenters: "That's not the way and video sends the message"

Frank Zappa: Nanook Rubs It. The reversal says: There's no-one except the sheik that remembered we had the mumps

George Harrison - Here comes the sun - He needs this mystery gal

The following example comes from the rock opera, Jesus Christ Superstar. The reversal says, "He's the saviour, loves me, he's the one."

Melissa Etheridge - Its the end for me. Can't leave me

Several years ago, the rock group, Judas Priest, were sued because their records supposedly contained backward messages. Here is one of the reversals. The forward, played first, says "Beyond the Realms Of Death". The speech reversal is clearer than the forwards and it says: I took my life.

Another One Bites The Dust by Queen. This song is well known is Backmasking circles. It contains two naturally occurring speech reversals that say, "Decide to smoke marijuana," and "Give some acid." However, some people say the reversal says, "Its fun to smoke marijuana." What do you think?

Britney Spears - From her first song, "One more time" - Ah, see me. I'm not too young - some people hear this reversal as "Sleep with me, I'm not too young" (A recent analysis of this song by the 2004 Adelaide RS training class concluded that the phrase actually says "Slee me" with no "p" and as such should not be documented, only "I'm not too young")

Rolling Stones - I love you, said the devil

AC/DC - Night Prowler - Oo, Listen to me, I'm from hell (gibberish) I'm the Lord Lucifer. White Owl yesterday

Iron Maiden - "Still life" - The man of evil is there

Captain and Tenile - Oh, I need some man to f#ck back

Mary Poppins soundtrack - Drinking all night long

Popeye Theme Song - Give me a #. Give me a f#ck nowfile

The Eagles - Hotel California - A well known example - Yeah Satan (gibb) organised his own religion

Larry Norman - Wolf in white van

Found by RS Student Tim Cham "You're a rock star": "Now worship it because I'm a (gibb) pioneer"

Found by RS Student Tim Cham Music "Only a shooting star" Woman give party

Here is one from Styx that was allegedly said to say backwards, "Satan, move in our voice." This piece was used extensively by the fundamentalist Christians in their argument that back masking was the work of the devil

Alanis Morisset - High in LA

Jeff Buckley - "Witches Rave" - Oh hear me well, this I fear

Toni Braxton, Man Enough - Your man's a genius

From RS Student, Joan Allen - Abba: Bring me one. Give me one
Found by RS student, Jeff Taft on the song "Thinking of you" by Lenny Kravitz - Still missing mom. We'll be missing you -

Sent in by Brian Jones From "We will rock you" by Queen - Bring us here to put on ash

Cool Reversal! Found by RS hobbyist Matt Miller. From the song Chevy Van by Sammy Johns - "High school was more than I really....needed"

In my opinion, and as a comment to add to the stairway to heaven clip, the audio will sound different depending on the pronunciation and how the vocals are sung.

The reason why the stairway to heaven clip does not sound the same live is because of the way the vocals are used. You can try this yourself by recording yourself saying the lyrics forward and then reversing it.

It is my opinion that without knowing what the reverse lyrics are, you may not interpret them the same. I believe you tend to hear what you want to hear, in this case, what people say they think the backwards lyrics say.

For an archive of hidden content in music that is too large to post here, visit this link.

http://www.eeggs.com/tree/2044.html

The main page is a collection of hidden content ranging in other categories such as television, movies etc.

http://www.eeggs.com/

Corporate Branding: The Tyranny of Normality

Most will say it all began with the well known and friendly mascots such as Aunt Jemima, Betty Crocker and Mr. Peanut. Keeping in mind that there are a plethora more waiting to be named and analyzed, there are certain things these three have in common. They all portray the idealistic view of people according to their time period. They projected the image that if you owned this specific product, you yourself could be what popular society had chosen as the standard of the time. Take Betty Crocker for example, making her debut in 1936. She was the perfect house wife, and coincidentally this symbol of servitude is what many people needed during the hard times of the Depression, as if telling them that if they worked as hard as Betty things would be alright.

Unfortunately these corporate mascots have been making the decisions of what we wear, what we buy, and in extreme cases who we talk to; but how do they do it? Manipulation. For decades, we have been bombarded with advertisements, no matter where you are. It is said that the average adult encounters three thousand advertisements a day (Wolkomir 2). We see them everyday, but don't take note of it because it has no direct impact on our day to day life. However when you're out shopping, you suddenly seem to remember that attractive young woman on the side of the bus and what she was wearing. Everyday, when you see these ads, you may not come to realize it, but the seed is planted. They manipulate the images, the words, so that you think nothing of it on a quick glance, but come shopping time, you remember them.

How do they do this? Again, by manipulation of the human body and mind. Corporations have gone out of their way to do research on what will catch the eye of a consumer, and how to best implant their ad into the mind of that consumer. Have you ever questioned why certain celebrities endorse different products in many categories? Solely because it has been found that if you see one person across a spectrum of products, you're more likely to remember that product (Kumar 3). There have been even stranger attempts to help consumers remember a product. In the 1950s, when subliminal messaging was being tested on the masses, it was discovered that the average reader of a magazine reads fast enough to usually not notice most of the ads. It was common place for many advertisers to add extra limbs, or many other oddities, which you don't notice consciously but you do know something is wrong with the picture subconsciously thus making you remember the ad – and the brand name.

What does all of this manipulation and advertisement finally amount to? Social branding. We buy things we believe will help us become part of the norm. America shuns those that it does not understand, especially those who don't look like them. When you buy those pair of Abercrombie jeans, you are branding yourself as a socially capable and wealthy person, even if you did buy it with a credit card. We are willing to sell ourselves to the credit companies solely so we can believe we are a part of the American society, that we are a part of the mesh, of the norm. Unfortunately most of the upcoming generations of America will tell you that freedom means to have all the money they need to buy whatever they want (Wolkomir 2), but this is not freedom, this is a disgrace. We are letting this social branding begin to change our concept of what the United States truly is, and are letting it become a nation whose standards are defined by corporate greed.
One of the best ways this can be achieved is using simple images to implant thoughts in your sub-concious. Often, advertisement companies will implant images in their ads that will invoke the most primal of emotions in the human mind - but the trick is - they are so insignificant in the scale of the whole image, that you at first dont pick it up. But your subconcious does! and when you're at the store wondering what brand to buy, and you suddenly feel compelled to choose one brand over the other, the subliminal messaging will have done it's work. The following will be illustrations of what I speak of.

When asked at random which bottle of bacardi they would pick, it was found that they more often than not picked the bottle on the far right.

The reason? Implanted at the bottom of the cocktail glass in front of the bottle are the very small and un-noticble letters 'U BUY" scribed into it. As ridiculous and unnoticeable as this may seem, your subconcious does indeed pick up on it. Here is the "U BUY" highlighted:

An example of an ad evoking the primal emotions in our subconcious is an ad for Windsor, an alchoholic drink. The primal emotions most often used by the advertisement companies are Death and Sex. In this example, there is a clearly hidden skull in the ice located in the cup next to the drink itself:

Why a skull? because it is often associated with Death, and death, albeit morbid, is one of the easiest ways of holding and implanting an image in someones subconcious. It is the fear of death and the unknown which makes it such an effective tool for the advertisement companies

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