From Philip Pettifor
London
It is astonishing that a debate over subliminal advertising can still
continue in serious journals (New Scientist, Science, 28 September, p
20). More than 12 years ago, James Vicary, the author and perfector of this
influential con on regulators and advertisers alike, admitted to Advertising
Age that he had fabricated the research to increase customers for his
market research business.
Although—like subliminal advertising itself—Vicary’s stratagem
only had a fleeting effect for his own business, it has certainly provided
long-term work for other researchers who try to establish its effects.
The effects of this research are of course subliminal.
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