Version I These are the covers of the paperback versions of three of Wilson Key's most notable books. Each provides insight into the machinations of some of the world's largest companies and their advertising agencies. Each also contains a number of illustrations of 'subliminal' advertising and discusses the relevant techniques. Many of the techniques have a long history in the world of art and they are still in use today. Key has often been the subject of ruthless attacks by many marketing and advertising professions and also notable individuals in other professions who seem never to have taken any serious interest in advertising. As many individuals again seem compelled to defend the advertising profession against criticism, irrespective of the justification of the criticism. Some of these individuals have had their words 'framed' and immortalized on the Expert page. Key is also
often 'blamed' for initiating the widespread use of 'subliminal'
techniques. Rather paradoxically and confusingly, others claim such
techniques, or rather the perception of what is claimed to be subliminal
adverts, are nothing more than figments of his imagination. There
is certainly more assiduous and professional use of these techniques
because Key helped publicize them. However, this has occurred largely
because critics in general have not be able to 'pin down' the unethical
users of the techniques and get them to acknowledge that they are
behaving in an unethical manner. To some extent this is because
there have been problems in defining precisely what constitutes
subliminal advertising. And, in fact, different definitions
are favoured in different disciplines. The present
set of Web Pages aims to clarify some issues in so far as it is
possible in a few pages. Interested readers are referred to
the book Sexy, Subliminal and Deadly: The Psychology of Manipulative
Advertising (in preparation) for further information. Viewers
are also The Web pages also are intended to offer a convincing body of examples to demonstrate unequivocally that unethical advertising practices are well and truly established in many areas of advertising. Whether these are best labelled as semi-subliminal advertising as the author prefers or as subliminal advertising is undoubtedly a subject for debate. What is most important is that the existence of such advertising is not left in doubt and that professional obfuscation is 'booted out of court'. |
Version II The trouble with some famous works of art Long before Wilson Key wrote his books there were many famous works of art in existence which used the same semi-subliminal techniques as are currently used in advertising. Three of these works of art are illustrated above. More recent works can be viewed on the ArtAttack page. From left to
right these show Holbein's famous anamorphic skull in The French
Ambassadors. Holbein's painting has been reproduced
in numerous books, including John Berger's Ways
of Seeing and in magazines and newspapers. The
French Also extremely well known are the faces in the hillside of Albrecht Durer's painting Fenedier Fortified Rock at Arco. Wilson Key also noted the relevance of some of the work of Picasso to advertising. He also drew attention to some of the embedded artwork in Hieronymus Bosch's painting of St. Anthony in the Wilderness that offers insight into the degree of sexual tension that has been perceived by critics. Critics recognised the sexual tension but what they overlooked were the semi-subliminal elements inducing the sexual tension, as noted by Key. The author's forthcoming book, Sexy, Subliminal and Deadly? The Psychology of Manipulative Advertising extends Key's analysis of this painting as there are other elements that Key did not notice. Key also discusses an additional three works of art in depth to point out the relevance of arts training to an understanding of what is, in some cases, an intuitive - rather than psychological - approach to the use of secondary imagery in advertising. The
use of semi-subliminal elements in art do not seem to be restricted
to Western Although not generally acknowledged in the few books devoted to the psychological and perceptual analysis of imagery and advertising, many advertising professionals have an artistic background. One should perhaps therefore pay closer attention to the use of semi-subliminal techniques in the field of art if one is to gain a fuller understanding of how they are used in the world of advertising. Additionally, as experimental and laboratory techniques can only partly explain how people respond to the complex stimuli found in advertising, an appreciation of the more 'holistic' approach to the appreciation of art may be beneficial in research into the visual aspects of advertising. |
This page has multiple parts: click to continue You are on Part 1 and Parts 3-5 have yet to be allocated |
Last Revised: 20th September, 2001 |