Does the media use subliminal advertising as a tool for mind control?

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Media these days, whether print or electronic, is being used by the general population as a tool to stay informed. Whether someone wants to get up to date with the latest events around the world or just wants to find out if their favorite team has won, media is the way to go. We trust the media to keep the whole world updated and connected. But, is the media exploiting our blind trust by subconsciously manipulating us through subliminal advertising? Firstly, what is subliminal advertising? It is a technique in which the consumer is exposed to product or brand advertising such as pictures or songs related to the product without the consumer being consciously aware of it. This may include ads during the airing of different sports matches or that one catchy commercial song that gets embedded into our minds. The consumer is then expected to decode the information subconsciously without ever realising the source of the information. This influences the consumer’s behaviour. This research essay will mainly focus on the different methods and strategies which are used by the media in order to persuade the consumers to buy a certain product or avail a specific service. The research will then help to determine if these methods can be categorised as mind control tools by weighing their effects on the consumer’s buying patterns and subconscious.
The earliest example of subliminal advertising is believed to be dated back to 1957 because it was the first time that something like this had come to the peoples’ attention. A movie theater in Fort Lee, New Jersey experimented with their audience by persuading them to eat popcorn and drink Coke. David Ogilvy, the founder of the famous international advertising firm Ogilvy and Mather, writes in his bo...

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...iarty. 1992. Advertising Principles and Practice. 2nd edition. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Bloomquist, Douglas W. 1985. Teaching Sensation and Perception: Its Ambiguous and Subliminal Aspects. In The G. Stanley Hall Lecture Series, edited by Anne M. Rogers and C.James Scheirer, vol. 5 (159–203). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Hawkins, Del. 1970. The Effects of Subliminal Stimulation on Drive Level and Brand Preference. Journal of Marketing Research, 7: 322–326.

Cooper, Joel and G. Cooper. 2002. Subliminal Motivation: A Story Revisited. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 32 (11): 2213–2227.

Bullock, August. 2004a. The Secret Sales Pitch: An Overview of Subliminal Advertising. San Jose, CA: Norwich.

DeFleur, Melvin L. and Robert M. Petranoff. 1959. A Televised Test of Subliminal Persuasion. Public Opinion Quarterly, 23 (2): 168–180.

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