He cites his animated TV ads for Hawaiian Punch. In an interview with Warrick, Mark Mothersbaugh (a founding member of DEVO and a sound engineer who established himself as a "go-to guy" in the world of radio and TV advertising) admits to embedding subliminal messages in ads that he created for several corporate clients. My favorite revelation is much more lighthearted. A few examples: The FCC has no authority to regulate advertisers the Pentagon has used "psy-ops" techniques to influence the mass media (in violation of the 1948 Smith-Mundt Act that prohibits using propaganda techniques to target a domestic audience) some of today's most pervasive subliminal ads use images that promote sexual violence serial killer Ted Bundy insisted that his murderous rampage targeting young women was stoked by TV advertising that he clearly perceived as promoting violence against women. Warrick's film has enough Stunning Revelations to fill two documentaries. ![]() They've noted that, by two years old, they can achieve brand loyalty and recognition." ![]() Media Watch founder Ann Simonton warns that Madison Avenue "start targeting children at 9 months. What you're really trying to do is control people. "When you manipulate people," Congrssman Kucknich adds, "it's anti-democratic. "The purpose of the ad is to delude and deceive you with imagery so you'll be uninformed and make an irrational choice." "Is the purpose of the TV ad to make you an informed consumer?" Noam Chomsky asks rhetorically. Happy people don't buy stuff they don't need." In order to prepare the ground for effective use of the "Four Fs," advertisers learned to rely on "reverse therapy." As one observer puts it: "You need to make people feel at risk in order to promote sales. To these, modern advertisers have added a fifth, powerful lure: "More!" Bernays identified four primordial triggers that could be used to control people's behavior and influence their purchasing decisions - Fear, Fight, Flight and Fornication. (The "father of modern advertising," Bernays’ theories were first put into wide practice by Adolf Hitler, Joseph Goebbels and Germany's Nazi Party). Warrick reviews the roots of thought control, drawn from the work of Edward Bernays, a nephew of Sigmund Freud. Adding to the film's visual complexity, many of the interviews were filmed against a green screen, which allowed Warrick to superimpose additional images behind the speakers to illustrate their arguments in "reel time." The use of hidden messages and psychological propaganda is debated by more than 30 experts including Noam Chomsky, Amy Goodman, Dennis Kucinich and Bay Area ad-maverick and author Jerry Mander. (In an interview with The Planet, Warrick admits to playfully placing scores of "hidden" messages but allowed "most" of them to run at a just-barely-perceptible 1/15 th of a second.) Visually, Warrick's flick is hyper-kinetic, the screen constantly bustling with overlays, "interference patterns" and, yes, subliminal messages. This 105-minute documentary is packed with hundreds of examples of subliminal tricks applied to TV, film and print and it kicks off with a collection of more than 20 mind-tweaking clips culled from TV and movies - from Alfred Hitchcock and William Friedkin to Walt Disney. But then it surges back with a torrent of documentation (ranging from secret memos to film clips) that suggests the dark art of subliminal messaging is more than a hollow urban legend - it continues to be a haloed tool of corporate legerdemain. On one hand, Programming the Nation debunks one of the most widely cherished fantasies of subliminal folklore (hidden messages in rock music). Warrick remains somewhat cagey in his approach to the subject and remains excruciatingly careful not to telegraph his conclusions. ![]() (You'll have a lot to talk about over coffee afterwards.)Ī former advertising executive, Warrick decided to become a filmmaker and embarked on what turned out to be a seven-year quest to answer the question: "Are subliminal messages fact or folklore?" If you value democracy, you should see this film and invite your friends and neighbors along for the experience. If you have children, you should see this film. Warrick's game plan is mapped out in a provocative and dazzling new documentary, Programming the Nation. Instead of studying how to score goals against cunning adversaries, Warrick's goal is studying whether advertisers are using hidden, subliminal messages to score in the marketplace. Jeff Warrick is a genial, affable fellow who looks like he might be a high school football coach but be forewarned: Warrick is a man with an obsession - and a mission. ![]() Programming the Nation opens at the Balboa Theater on October 28.
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