Subliminal Advertising

Companies spend millions of dollars in advertising campaigns to influence our thoughts, actions, and buying habits, They affect our views and, whether directly or indirectly, persuade us to buy their products.

Subliminal messages intentionally created within advertising imagery has become a popular means to acquire maximum profits. In ads, hidden messages are used to appeal to our subconscious, which in turn, influences our behavior and buying habits. These obscured messages do not appear by accident or coincidence. Advertisers pay millions of dollars to have these images carefully crafted so that they register within our subconscious minds.

I am against these practices and think they should be banned under certain circumstances. That is to say, if companies want to use subliminal messaging to make the public more conscious about positive issues, such as being more environmentally aware and active, not trying to influence a purchase for their own gain. However, if companies, use this type of strategy to entice us to purchase their products so that they can increase profits, I don't feel that is an acceptable strategy.

This practice manipulates sales from innocent consumers who otherwise may not have made such a purchase, or at the very least, would have taken the time to process all available information to them, so that they could arrive at their own decision about its value, had they been cognizant of the message. We cannot consider and evaluate messages we don't realize are there.

Stealth neuromarketing, where a brain is influenced to make a decision but is both unaware of the influence and unable to be aware of the influence, is highly objectionable simply because it prevents autonomy.