Subliminal
advertising has gone mainstream - fake news, mind control
scripts, propaganda and stealth voicemail are in wide use
by corporations, government bodies and industry groups.
By
Martin Howard
HowTheyChangeYourMind.com
Some
of the biggest advertisers are taking their advertising away
from full page ads and television spots and spending up on
hidden persuasion. You won't find these secret messages in
ice-cubes or flickering film footage like they were in the
sixties. Subliminal advertising has gone mainstream - fake
news, mind control scripts, propaganda and stealth voicemail
are in wide use by corporations, government bodies, and industry
groups. Have you spotted any of these?
1.
Point of Sale Mind Control Scripts
Clothing store staff and car salesmen use them to close the
deal - carefully planned questions and subverbal cues to get
you to sign. If you’ve ever walked out of a store, after spending
twice as much as you wanted to, chances are you’ve fallen
victim to one of these scripts. The GAPACT is used by Gap
staff to upsell you. Other salesmen use word techniques to
make you buy, even when you don’t have the money - because
they make more by selling you 'easy' finance. When a car salesmen
takes you on a test drive and asks you “Is this the type of
vehicle you would like to own?”, he is using a subtle mental
framing trick - it can create an embarrassing distraction
while you drive. The technique is called disassociation -
which is the ideal state for mental manipulation.
2.
Doctor-Patient Drug Kick-backs
When a doctor recommends a certain heart medication or an
antidepressant, chances are he has been paid a cash bonuses
and perks by the manufacturer, making it difficult to give
objective advice. Some pharmaceutical firms have gone so far
as to invent and promote a new syndrome in order to create
a market for a new drug! Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) was
devised in 1998 and publicised by planting fifty press stories
and quizzes such as: “Do you have social anxiety disorder?”.
Soon after, Smithkline Beecham released Paxil - the 'cure'
for SAD.
3.
In-Store Sensory Manipulation
Scientifically tested visual displays, Muzak tapes, and even
mind altering scents combine to maximize impulse spending.
Specially designed music loops can keep shoppers in the supermarket
for 18% longer. One study into use of airborne aromas, pumped
into a Canadian mall, resulted in an increase of over $50
per customer that week. In supermarkets, scientifically generated
Planograms create the ideal shelf arrangement for certain
products, skewing the shopper's eyes towards high value items.
Companies pay slotting allowances for favoured placement.
Aisle layout are change regularly - which prevents systematic
shopping - forcing extra trips past the impulse item displays.
4.
Private Conversation Rental
Positive buzz can be triggered artificially for a price. Marketers
now recruit secret 'buzz agents' to promote to their friends
and family. One buzz agency claims to have an army of agents
in every major US city. Their job is to mention or display
certain products as they go about their day, using their relationships
as marketing channels. Music labels, book sellers, entertainment
venues, and fashion outlets are using this method to establish
new brands. Today’s billion dollar 12-16 year olds are so
immune to traditional advertising, mass media is no longer
a reliable persuasive device - so the alternative is a 'synthetic
grapevine.’
5.
Neuromarketing
Corporations are going to enormous lengths to probe the minds
of consumers - literally tapping into their brains. The Brighthouse
Institute for Thought Sciences, in Atlanta, is one lab that
is scanning people's brains with MRIs, in an effort to decode
and record our subconscious thoughts and devise more seductive
advertising. The process is being called neuromarketing. They
are hoping to determine specific biological triggers that
can be used by language engineers to stimulate purchases.
This is the hi-tech fulfilment of pioneer psychologists Freud
and Jung who established the connection between language and
behaviour.
6.
Chatbots and Stealth Voicemail
Personal phone messages from businesses or political campaigners
can turn up in your morning voicemail, having been delivered
late the previous night. Voicemail broadcasters like DialAmerica
uses massive computer installations to deliver identical copies
of spoken messages to millions of householder simultaneously.
On the internet, chat room 'bots' masquerading as personal
real buddies are actually distributed simultaneously by powerful
computers 24 hours a day. Virtual word-of-mouth communication
is replacing other promotional technologies because of its
speed and price.
7.
Real-time Bugging of Personal Data
Your browser is probably revealing more than you might want:
your location, the software and hardware you are using, details
of other links you clicked on and your browsing habits. Many
third party dataminers use 'cookies' to track your path across
the web. Extensive realtime information is processed to target
you. Larger databases harvest your personal medical and financial
records to be bought and sold by interested companies and
government departments. Datamining is a fuzzy science that
filters you personal information for links about your personal
behaviour and finances. These details are used in turn to
create elaborate marketing campaigns to sell you more stuff.
8.
Sidewalk Stalkers
The public space of streets, neighborhoods and communities
is being mapped and targeted by viral marketers and fake grassroots
organizations. In some cases the campaigns are overt but,
increasingly, street 'agents' are making unannounced social
approaches. Fake tourists flash around the latest camera-phone
to passing crowds. 'Product seeders' circulate at sports events
to find influential young players to wear their gear. Others
wander the street wearing colored corporate tattoos. Personal
space is the last frontier for commerce. As citizens attempt
to retreat from the deluge of media advertising they can now
be stalked when they step out the door.
9.
Planted News Stories
Industry front groups, public relations firms and government
departments are planting news stories on TV, radio, newspapers
and the web. Those 'miracle drug' stories or research reports
are often Video News Release (VNRs). TV newsrooms love these
prepackaged news items that are distributed across the networks.
It saves them time and money but it is killing community news
and genuine investigative reporting. Real news items are being
replaced by slick corporate promotions and political messages.
According to one Nielsen Media Research Survey, about 80 percent
of U.S. news directors air VNRs several times a month, and
all American television newsrooms now use VNRs in their newscasts.
10.
Government Propaganda
When it's time to launch a war or promote an unpopular policy,
the government needs special help to sell the idea through
the media. Opinion engineers are paid to "manage"
public perception of inconvenient facts, and turn them around
for better. Using the universal tools fear, patriotism, and
phrase repetition, these high flying spin doctors can easily
sway the population. The most successful public relations
campaigns aim to change public perception without our awareness
of the campaign. They are typically launched by governments,
institutions and countries who need to change their public
image, restore their reputation or manipulate public opinion.
There are PR firms today who advise dictatorships, dishonest
politicians and corrupt industries to cover up environmental
catastrophes and human rights violations.
Martin
Howard is a media researcher and author of "We Know What
You Want: How They Change Your Mind".
SOURCE:
How They Change
Your Mind
