Customer Reviews

Subliminal Ad-Ventures in Erotic Art

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have studied subliminal techniques for 30 years and I started because I read Key's first book, Subliminal Seduction. This book has examples from his previous works and need not be purchased if you have read them. If you have not been introduced to the world of subliminal art and have not read Key, you should get a copy. Subliminal means those images perceived at the unconscious level. Great artists through the ages have included subliminal embeds in their work and the world of commercial art uses them constantly. There is no "hard" evidence that hidden messages can change our belief system or behavior pattern, but the fact that creative artists and advertising specialists continue to use them might indicate they ARE effective. You will have to understand the psychology of perception to appreciate the possibility that you can be manipulated by hidden messages in visual images to accept Key's premise. For example, why would commercial artists continue to do it if there were no evidence that it works? Simply put, sex,guilt,power,greed,etc. does sell! Try the book and read more and see what you think. It is worth the time and money.

Key has an uncanny insight into a subject that more people should become aware of. Most readers might say that it is difficult enough to control their own lives without having to worry about outside influences affecting their very thinking. This is where you will miss the boat so to speak by not taking the information in this book seriously. Nikolai Tesla compared most of humanity to "meat machines" and it seems he was right. The manipulation of our minds is more far reaching than even he could have guessed. What is being hidden from the machines (us)?

Subliminal Ad-Ventures in Erotic Art is an updated version of The Clam Plate Orgy, a subliminal classic first published in 1980. It deals briefly with advertising, and then focuses on Key's interpretations of archetypal subliminals in art. This book had a tremendous influence on me and I highly recommend it.

Readers interested in this subject might also want to take a look at The Secret Sales Pitch, an Overview of Subliminal Advertising, of which I am the author. It was recently published (in 2004) and is available on Amazon.

I became engrossed in the subject of subliminal advertising after reading Key's first book, Subliminal Seduction, in the 1970s. I found the insights that he presented totally fascinating. I began collecting my own subliminal examples and putting on slide shows at colleges and coffee shops around Northern California. I sent a newspaper review of my work to Dr. Key and we met when I was in my mid-twenties. With my permission, he used one of my illustrations in his slide shows and in one of his books.

I enjoyed all of Dr. Key's books enormously, but I always felt that the general argument he was making could be presented more logically. Although the idea that images can have "secret" meanings or contain optical illusions that influence viewers unconsciously may initially seem outlandish, it actually makes perfect sense. In The Secret Sales Pitch I demonstrate this by correlating perceptual and psychological studies that establish the efficacy of subliminal stimulation with advertisements that contain subliminal techniques. I also review the history of subliminal persuasion from Vance Packard to the present, revealing that Madison Avenue's involvement in the topic is completely understandable. All of my examples are original, and the text is thoroughly documented with 32 pages of annotated references. A prominent psychologist have commented that my work is "convincing and ingenious."

Subliminal advertising in itself may not be a terrible thing, but it is terribly unhealthy for society to be in denial about it. The Secret Sales Pitch is not just an expose of secret techniques used in media; it is a textbook thoughtfully outlining how to make images that are unconsciously stimulating. Artists, students, and marketing professionals will find it inspiring. The 136 illustrations are printed in high resolution full color, and Projects and Experiments are included for both serious and casual researchers. I truly believe my book is a meaningful extension of Dr. Key's work, and I hope people interested in the subject of unconscious persuasion will take a look at it.

"Virtually all published photograph of any consequence have been reworked including so called news photos."

Another great book by Key the examines marketing to the unconscious mind or "below threshold."

There are two problems with all of Wilson Bryan Key's subliminal advertising books.

First, subliminal advertising doesn't work. Key just assumes it works from flawed anecdotes he's heard. There are no scientific studies that show we can be influenced by the letters S-E-X in the background of a magazine ad. We were told that it does work from the silly story from 1957 about people rushing to concessions after "Drink Coca-Cola" was flashed on the screen but it's an urban legend. The alleged results could never be reproduced. Check out snopes.com for more on this.

Second, if you were to believe Key's perception of the advertising industry, everyone on Madison Avenue is cranking out ads with[...]material embedded in them. Yet Key can find absolutely no one who has held any position in advertising to back up his claims. This would have to be the grandest conspiracy of the 20th century considering that Key claims subliminal advertising is responsible for the moral destruction of our society.

So go cloud-watching with Key through magazine and television ads. Imagine the most unspeakable sexual acts you can think of and find them everywhere. Prepare to be shocked when a little squinting and a lot of imagination can reveal a decadent Roman orgy in a plate of little blobs of battered clam bits. If you don't see it, you're not trying hard enough.