The messages "Eat popcorn" and "Drink Coke" blinked on the screen every five seconds throughout the feature films, appearing so briefly that the viewers did not consciously perceive them. The results, he concluded from using these subliminals, was an increase in sales of Cola by eight-teen percent and of popcorn by fifty-eight percent. The results of his Fort Lee subliminal projection test became the seed of a National subliminal uproar.
Subliminal stimuli have been used in the North American media for over twenty-five years without anyone getting hip to what was going on. Advertising firms studied the psychology of buying so thoroughly that they now knew exactly what made consumers tick (www.parascope.com/articles). People in the United States struggled to make sense of a rapidly changing world. The reaction of the public to having subliminal advertising thrust upon them was not a good one. People were very upset by this idea, and felt the government should address it. Elected officials proposed many laws to the FCC with intent to either curtail or control the use of these messages. However based on the right to free speech the FCC did not pass a single one. Advertisers were only left with a warning (www.parascope.com/articles).
The subliminal mechanism that concerned most, was the 'embed', which is a word, slogan, or symbol inserted so faintly into advertisements, that it is almost impossible to perceive. Embedded words and picture illusions are part of almost all advertising throughout North America today. "It is almost virtually impossible to pick up a newspaper, magazine, hear a radio add, or watch television without being exposed to subliminal embeds" (Key, 1973). .
Subliminal alarmist Wilson Bryan Key believed that beyond any question, subliminal stimuli help sell products. Visual embeds are a strong and frequently used language in the media and in advertising. The use of subliminal stimuli as a device for motivating audiences in the various media areas has reached a level of technical proficiency (Key, 1973).