dence that the more television a child » watches, the more stereotyped his or her views become. The negative effects on adults are amplified in children. If the images are not changed, the result will be the continuation of the division between the sexes. WHATIS ADVERTISING? Advertising is not selling, it is conditioning people to want things. If human beings bought only what they needed (not what they wanted), the advertising companies and manufac- | turers of products would be broke. Advertising projects the ideal that more is better, and the more expensive the better. Ours is a world of consumerism and materialism. Most people will deny that advertising has any effect on them; they say that they don’t pay any attention to the commer- cials or ads. If this is so, then why are there millions of dollars spent by multi-national companies to advertise their products? The answer is that they must make a profit by advertising, otherwise they would not bother with the long, complicated and expensive process. SUBLIMINAL TECHNIQUES page 9 as with most advertising, if the reader is consciously aware of the technique which - is designed to affect his pur- chasing behavior, he may resist the purchase. Anything consciously perceived can be evaluated, criticized, discuss- ed, argued, and possibly re- jected, whereas unconsciously perceived information meets no resistance or qualification by the intellect. Subliminal data are merely stored in the brain with identifications... which will trigger a delayed, alarm-clock reaction capable of motivating behavior. Subliminal advertising is known to work. It has been used to increase the sale of popcorn and Coke in movie theaters. It has also been used to decrease the rate of shoplifting in large stores. It is constantly used in advertising without public awareness. The first time this writer. recalled hearing anything about subliminal advertising and techniques was sev- eral years ago. Apparently in the movie The Exorcist, the reason the movie was so scary was because thr sounds used in parts of the picture show were the noises of swarming bees and of pigs squealing when they were butchered. The two sounds were mixed together and dubbed in when, they would have the most effect. Then there was the word SEX embedded in Farrah Fawcett’s hair on her pin-up poster. Some of the subliminal tech- - niques used are fascinating. Subliminal techniques have been around for centuries. Given this, it is surprising how little the public knows about it. However, advertising agen- cies, governmental agencies and multi-national corporations have stu- died the phenomenon in detail. This fact has startling implications.. Sub- liminal advertising is not acknowledg- ed consciously. It is not meant to be seen or heard. Wilson Bryan Key describes it very well in Subliminal Seduction: SEX AND VIOLENCE IN SUBLIMINAL ADVERTISING The amount of sex and violence in advertising and on television and in other media is incredible. It appears that sex and violence sell. The two themes are repeated almost constantly in subliminal advertising. In Sub- liminal Seduction, Key states that: ‘These two symbolic polarities, sex or love and death, lie deep at the root of all the world’s literature, art, philos- ophy, science, religion, and human behavior.’’ Perhaps advertisers know more about our psyche than we ourselves know. | In addition to being able to sell people material goods, subliminal stimuli can have serious moral implications. Sub- liminal techniques can actually make people change their. attitudes and beliefs without their even noticing. It in fact can be used to brainwash. people. In another of his books The Clam-Plate Orgy, Wilson Bryan Key describes the way in which Third World countries can, by media man- ipulation, begin to have rising expecta- tions after viewing American tele- vision or receiving news via the United States. They see people with a wealth of goods and wonder why they don’t have such items. They may begin to protest against their governments or even start a revolution. The revolu- tions are ‘’...countered by military suppression unfortunately, supported by the United States. The United States is today the leading trainer and supplier of internal security forces for Latin America, Far and Middle East- ern, and African dictatorships...’’. Subliminal stimuli are nothing to be scoffed at. Once people are aware of it,’ they are able to recognize that it is indeed used in advertising. The next time you are wee T.V. try to see if you can manage to distinguish what it is that is being flashed before your eyes. BODY LANGUAGEIN _ ADVERTISING Body language is used in advertis- ing in much the same way that subliminal techniques are used, that is so the viewer won’t be alert to it. Body language can stereotype men and women in roles.in Gender Adver- tisements, Erving Goffman writes about the conclusions he has reached by observing body language in adver- tising. He notes that in most advertis- ing, women tend to touch or guide objects, men hold tightly, grasp or manipulate items. Averting one’s eyes usually means submission and trust in the source of stimulus; it is usually women who turn their gaze away from others. Height and positioning can determine dominance, women and children (rarely, if ever, men) are seen on the floor or laying on a bed or other surface. When mock assault games are portrayed, it is the man who is the aggressor. He may ‘‘play’’ with wo- men or children but Goffman says: ‘“..underneath this show a man may be engaged in a deeper one, the suggestion ot what he could do it he got serious about it.’” Body language is used to show that men are dominant over women. CHANGES FOR ADVERTISING It has been shown that more liberated portrayals of women sell products just as well as do traditional portrayals of women. Why then aren’t they used instead? The defenders of advertising say that if women objected | so strongly, they would not buy the products; they also believe that they don’t have to be concerned about the effects of advertising because they are in the business to make money. Finally, Courtney and Whipple have found that it is argued that ‘’...only a few radicals object to the portrayal of the sexes.’’ These are denials of the real issue. This writer maintains that it _ is not in the multi-national companies best interest to let their advertisers portray the sexes realistically or equally. If the real world was shown on television and in advertising, perhaps people might be more concerned for their fellow man than for the acquisi- tion of material wealth. As Courtney and Whipple point out, there are three ways in which to change the portrayal of the sexes. The first is by education and persuasion of the individual advertisers and agenc- ies. The second way is by development of relevant codes of industry and media self-regulation. Finally, to have real power over the portrayal of the sexes int the media, legislation must be introduced. This writer would like to add a fourth suggestion, those that know how the media can manipulate the unaware should educate them. Liberated depictions of women are at. in advertising and should be used. 4 OR ) / mip we pat a a ; , Ip ee Yaw eens ae re >