International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR)

ISSN (Online): 2319-7064

Index Copernicus Value (2015): 78.96 | Impact Factor (2015): 6.391

Psychology of Brand Creation and Management:

Subliminal Advertising
Malika Singh, Ruchika Nayyar

Abstract: Subliminal messages are concealed messages that are made to follow up on your intuitive personality. They are an
endeavour to influence you to think or need something without you notwithstanding acknowledging it. These shrouded messages can be
transmitted by pictures blazing amazingly quick on a screen, in pictures inside pictures, in topics, or even in mottos. This paper
discusses the effect of the subliminal messages on the sales of companies and the expanded utilization of this device by the advertisers to
build their brand and further manage it. Controversial issue comes up when use of subliminal messages in advertising comes into play.
While some advertisers and consumers agree that if subliminal messages are real, they show no effect on consumers; others believe that
these messages directly affect sales of certain items being advertised. Research in this area is necessary to find out if subliminal
messages are real and ethical to be used in advertising today. The methodology undertaken for this research is secondary and the
research design is exploratory.

Keywords: Subliminal Advertising, Marketing, Brand Management

1. Introduction and distinctive for attracting potential customers. With the

plethora of brands already available in the market for every
In the vast and diverse environment formarketing of conceivable product, the creation of a new brand and its
products and services, it‟s become very challenging to management in such a competitive market is truly a
create a brand and thereafter, to manage and safeguard the daunting task requiring employment of ingenious methods.
value of the brand over a prolonged period of time.
An emerging field of such innovative advertising, which
In today’s world, when markets are saturated and it is has recently been attracting marketers is Subliminal
increasingly difficult to tell one product or service from Advertising.
another based on quality and inherent features alone, Subliminal Advertising is the usage of images and sounds
branding is the most effective tool companies can use as to influence consumers‟ responses without their being
they seek to fight off intense competition from their rivals. consciously aware of it.
Branding is a complex process involving the creation of a
unique brand image which is perceived as an integrated Promotional messages the recipient is not aware of, such as
whole, and which attracts consumers’ attention, prompting those played at very low volume or flashed on a screen for
them to purchase a particular product or service. less than a second. Its effectiveness is not supported by
scientific evidence, and its use is considered a deceptive
Creating a brand is vital because it commands loyalty and business practice in some jurisdictions.
it‟s easier to increase sales as the product‟s attributes and
quality are known to the buyer. In short, a successful brand Subliminal Advertising has been around since the 1950‟s
is one which has a good recall value in the minds of with Coca-Cola being the first to introduce it.
potential customers.
Typically, brands have been developed by marketers by Ever since then, many organizations have adopted this
indulging in various promotional techniques such as innovative method of advertising their products and
advertisements, sponsoring of cultural / social event, etc. services for wooing the audience.

Advertisements are the most widely employed techniques The advantage of such advertising is that customers
for both, brand building and management. Traditionally, the unknowingly get attracted to the product which translates
common and direct forms of advertisements are print into their purchasing /consuming the product.
media, social media, radio, television, etc.
For example, in the epic movie The Lord of the Rings, “The
In order to create a distinct identity and a high recall value One Ring that Rule Them All” had the words Coca-Cola
of a brand, advertising agencies have consistently been engraved onto it displaying a subliminal message that Coca-
seeking and adopting new and innovative ways to be novel Cola is the key to rule all.

Volume 6 Issue 11, November 2017

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Paper ID: ART20178004 849
 International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR)
ISSN (Online): 2319-7064
Index Copernicus Value (2015): 78.96 | Impact Factor (2015): 6.391

Objectives of the Study: techniques cannot be discarded. Research reveals that the
minuscule display (0.03 seconds) of the words „drink Coca
 To understand the art behind creating a brand. Cola‟ and „eat popcorn‟ during a movie in a cinema
 To understand how to manage a brand in the long run. substantially increased the sale of the said products.
 To study the effect of various advertising techniques.
 To study the science behind subliminal advertising. This paper is aimed at discovering what is known about
such subliminal messages and how they impact the behavior
2. Literature Review of consumers towards a particular brand.Although such
advertisements are banned in the UK, Australia and United
States, George W. Bush used a subliminal message in a
An in-depth research has been carried out in the subject
video for his presidential campaign in 2002, wherein the
study to benefits of subliminal advertising in our endeavor
word „rats‟ was displayed (for .04 seconds) while talking
to solve the dilemma faced by many advertisers: „Does
about bureaucrats. Thus, the inference of the paper suggests
subliminal advertising work?‟
that although such messages are looked down upon, they
are still being covertly used to influence the human
A number of marketers believe that a person‟s subconscious
behavior and decision.
mind is very powerful and therefore, these „hidden‟
messages in advertisements are addressed to that part of the
(Guilherme Luttikhuizen, 2011)
brain in order to trigger it. Such messages are used to affect
and direct the buying decisions of various consumers.
In this study, the effectiveness of subliminal messages was
examined by showing half the sample advertisements with
In this paper, a qualitative research had been conducted in
sexual content and the other half were shown as neutral
the Lebanese market. In Lebanon, whilst marketers
advertisements. The audience was asked to choose the
disagreed of subliminal messages being used, they
advertisement they liked the most.
unanimously agreed that sex sells and many advertisements
are intentionally sexualized in a subtle manner for enticing
The result clearly stated that the images with the subliminal
the consumers into purchasing them.
messages were chosen over the neutral images. Thus, it can
safely be concluded that sexual innuendos remain
(Hussin Hejase, 2013)
embeddedin the minds of the general public as they are
often drawn to such advertisements and make their
This paper explains the results of subliminal messages when
decisions accordingly.
used in print advertisements. According to the research
conducted, it can be inferred that around 81% of the United
(Anna Acuna Canals, 2014)
States population believes that advertising agencies make
use of words, sounds, images, etc., to sell their
The said researcher aimed at examining the history, use,
products.However, many companies refrain from using
legality and the value of subliminal advertising to the
such techniques as they believe that it might not be very
marketer.This paper argued the various reasons as to why
effective and moreover, their reputation is on the line and
such advertising is of little or no value to the modern
can be tarnished if such an activity gets noticed. Thus, the
marketers. One of the major reasons was that consumers
worry of consumers should not be alarming when it comes
distort the messages shown blatantly to them and thus, even
to the usage of embedded messages in advertisements as the
greater distortions take place with subliminal advertisement
companies are well aware that such an allegation can have
and messages.
an adverse effect on their company‟s name.
(Bruce Peckover, 1983)
(Jamie Lynne Wilfong, 2002)

Everyone is aware of the controversies that follow the idea

of subliminal advertising, but the results of such advertising
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Paper ID: ART20178004 850
 International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR)
ISSN (Online): 2319-7064
Index Copernicus Value (2015): 78.96 | Impact Factor (2015): 6.391
3. Research Methodology Companies to pursue such advertisements or so they
hamper their image / sales.
Subliminal Advertising has been a controversial topic from
the very beginning and everyone has a different opinion The companies organizations selected to be analyzed are:
when it comes to where they stand on this particular topic. 1) SFX Magazine
2) Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC)
Recently, the usage of subliminal messages in 3) Walt Disney
advertisements has been banned in many countries 4) Coca-Cola
including India, United States of America and United 5) AXE Deodorant
Kingdom.
4. Data Analysis
Objectives of the Research Paper-
 To understand the art behind creating a brand. 1) SFX (Magazine):
 To understand how to manage a brand in the long run. SFX Magazine is one of the leading magazines circulated in
 To study the effect of various advertising techniques. United Kingdom. It covers various topics of fantasy and sci-
 To study the science behind subliminal advertising. fi. According to the magazine, the “SF” stands for „Science
Fiction‟ and the suffix „X‟ does not stand for anything in
The research design followed is descriptive as the agenda of particular. SFX Magazine also hosts SFX Awards which
my research is to study the implications of subliminal reward the previous year‟s achievements in Sci-fi and the
advertising used by various companies and how it impacted winners are chosen by popular votes of readers of the SFX
their sales and/or profits. Magazine.

Methodology This UK science fiction magazine, SFX, has become well

The methodology undertaken for this study was in line with known for partly covering up its title letters, such that in the
the following two fundamental issues: initial few glances the reader is likely to think that the
 The manner in which companies have undertaken magazine consists of racier content. The enhance the
subliminal advertising. impact, often the bold photograph of a beautiful actress
 Whether or not such subliminal advertising was adorns the front cover.
beneficial for such companies.
In almost all of their magazine‟s front covers, pictures are
In the study that follows, various companies have been aligned in such a manner that the name of the magazine
chosen and an in-depth analysis has been conducted of their changes meaning thereby attracting shoppers.
advertisements for arriving at a conclusion whether or not This technique, without a doubt attracts eyeballs of the
their subliminaladvertisements were beneficial or not to passerby‟s and makes them give the magazine a look.
generate higher sales. Usually the letter “F” of SFX is partially hidden such that it
appears “E” to the casual customer. Many readers and
The idea behind this study is to analyze if there is any websites have reported that the logo appears different
significant impact of such advertising onto the minds of mostly when the cover consists of a woman. SFX has a
potential consumers and whether it is beneficial for circulation of over 26000 copies.

Impact: believe that SFX Magazine greatly uses the power of

Although SFX has never revealed an official statement as to subliminal messaging to sell their magazines.
whether or not they are subliminally manipulating their
readers, almost all of their readers and conspiracy theorists
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Paper ID: ART20178004 851
 International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR)
ISSN (Online): 2319-7064
Index Copernicus Value (2015): 78.96 | Impact Factor (2015): 6.391
According to Huffington Post, along with many other the broadcast television network, ABC, Disney Channel,
established sources, it can be clearly discerned that in the ESPN, etc.
recent times, sex sells and all the marketers grab the first
opportunity to sell their products. Thus, SFX magazine Walt Disney has always been a part of the controversies that
using the same, age-old technique comes as no surprise. follow subliminal advertising. Researchers have stated that
Walt Disney has been the biggest contributor to such
2) Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) advertising, although Walt Disney denies any such claims.
Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) is the 2nd largest fast food
chain in America after McDonald‟s (as measured by sales). This includes from using debauched words subtly in their
Founded by Colonel Harland Sanders at the time of the movies, to making the Pirates of The Caribbean poster
Great Depression, KFC was the first American fast food resemble their logo. They have always been surrounded
restaurant to expand internationally. KFC now operates in a with allegations of being subliminally influencing their
number of countries in Africa, China, India, Indonesia, audiences.
Japan, Pakistan, Europe, Middle Ease, etc.
The following subliminal message used was simply to
In a recent advertisement of a 99Ç burger, KFC cleverly promote the Disney Corporation through a movie poster.
placed a couple of dollar bills in place of lettuce to subtly
suggest that this burger saves money while still being Since the Pirates of the Caribbean movies are produced by
delicious. Walt Disney, they used this poster as an opportunity to
hopefully embed the Disney logo into people‟s mind to
KFC reportedly claims the dollar bill was placed there as boost sales and revenue.
part of a contest, offering $1 coupons to the first 1000
people who found the note, yet viewers were not even The resemblance between the Dead Man‟s Chest poster and
aware of the contest. It was only a ruse to cover for such the Walt Disney logo „Mickey Mouse‟ is uncanny and thus,
subliminal advertising. it cannot be denied that this was done unintentionally.
KFC claims that their advertising is not subliminal as they
ask you to find a „subliminal message‟ in the advertisement,
and if you do, you get a free snacker sandwich.

While no other channel refused their ad, Walt Disney‟s

ABC was the first to refuse the advertisement as they
believed that the ad was subliminally manipulating its
customers and decided to play the ad without the subliminal
clip.

Impact:
Pirates of the Caribbean franchisee has earned over $3.7
billion in box office sales alone. The resemblance of the
logos caught the attention of prospectivecustomers but the
benefit gained cannot be quantified. Disney uses subliminal
messages very often in their movies and/or shows. Such
frequent use of subliminal advertising may have resultedin
an increase in the marketing revenues which is unknown to
the public and cannot be quantified.
Impact:
Due to their scheme of calling it a „contest‟ shot up their 4) Coca-Cola
advertisement viewing ratings considerably, as people were Coke is a well-known carbonated drink manufactured by
intrigued by what they were hiding and wanted to be a part The Coca-Cola Company. Coke has had its dominance in
of it. However, since the general public was not the soft-drink market since the 20th century and has
communicated about this so-called contest, agencies found maintained its high market share with the help of constant
this to be misleading and a clever way of adding a diversification of its brand into Diet Coke, Caffeine-Free
subliminal technique. Thus, while their advertisement Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Zero, Coca-Cola Vanilla, etc.
attracted customer eye-balls, it was looked down upon by
other advertising agencies. In a recent study, Coca-Cola was declared as being the
world‟s third-most valuable brand (after Apple and Google)
3) The Walt Disney Company: in the year 2015.
Founded in 1923 by brothers Walt Disney and Roy Disney,
they soon established themselves as a leader in the Coca-Cola was the first to use the technique of subliminal
animation industry and later diversified into film advertising when they showed a clip saying „Eat Popcorn‟
production, television and theme parks. Disney also owns and “Drink Coca-Cola‟ for 0.003 seconds during movies

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Paper ID: ART20178004 852
 International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR)
ISSN (Online): 2319-7064
Index Copernicus Value (2015): 78.96 | Impact Factor (2015): 6.391
shows. Reportedly, this marketing stunt increased the
popcorn sales by 58% and Coca-Cola sales rose by 18%.

Coca-Cola has often used subliminal messages to attract

their customers. Many consumers and researchers argue that
the ice forming on top of the Coca-Cola can, resemble the
silhouette of a lady and has purposely been done so.

Impact:

The Indian viewers criticized the advertisement and The

Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had to
discontinue the screening of the ad after receiving several
complaints from the public.

Although the advertisement was developed in Argentina

and filmed in Los Angeles, the viewers were not impressed
with the message that was been conveyed and thus asked to
revoke the advertisement from Indian television.

The Indian Government therefore suspended the television

advertisement for Axe men‟s deodorant, made by Mumbai-
based Hindustan Unilever Ltd.
The Coca-Cola Company has never made an official
statement agreeing to or denying any such theories which This caused a huge setback to the company as the Indian
further ignites the speculation that this was done purposely public was aggravated by their intent and the company had
to lure its customers into buying their drink. to make a public statement of explaining their reasoning
behind the advertisement stating that they had conducted a
Impact: research study involving 3,571 women in 13 different
The success of subliminal advertisements can be easily countries asking their opinion on the advertisement and the
measured with the help of the advertisement campaign research showed that women found the advertisement
conducted by Coca-Cola which resulted in their sales being humorous and witty.
increased by a whopping 18%, which further gave rise to
more such messages being put out by the company. 5. Conclusion and Recommendations
5) AXE Deodorant Back in 1957 when James M. Vicary first conducted the
Lynx (known as Axe in the United States and Canada) is a experiment behind subliminal advertising, it resulted in a
brand of male grooming products, owned by the Anglo- substantial increase in the sales volume which further gave
Dutch company Unileverand advertised towards the rise to speculation to the success of such messages.
youthful male statistic. Axe is a cool, notorious brand
propelled in India in 1999 with Axe Deodorants. Axe in Ever since then, many companies have adopted this
India has an assortment of male preparing items, for technique to attract more customers are boost their
example, Axe antiperspirants, post-shaving moisturizers, revenues. However, whilst the benefits of such advertising
shaving creams and body fragrances. cannot be under-estimated, the results have not been
quantified.
Axe launched their Dark Temptation Deodorant
advertisement which caught a lot of attention from the Many psychologists have concluded that out the
viewers. This deodorant is promoted as a fragrance that is subconscious mind is very powerful and retains such
irresistible to women showcased in the form of a „chocolate messages. However, it is still unclear and unknown whether
man‟. prospective customers actually act upon such subliminal
messages.
The spot from Unilever begins with a man spraying himself
with the Dark Temptation Deodorant and transforms into a Many contend that these discoveries in subliminal messages
walking chocolate figurine as he walks through the day. are because of possibility, University College London
(2007) has discovered research that demonstrates that
As he strolls through the city, women throw themselves at subliminal messages really do cause incitement in mind.
him and finding him irresistible. This does not demonstrate an immediate connection

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Paper ID: ART20178004 853
 International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR)
ISSN (Online): 2319-7064
Index Copernicus Value (2015): 78.96 | Impact Factor (2015): 6.391
between subliminal promoting and sales, however it shows [10] http://www.businessinsider.com/subliminal-ads-2011-
that subliminal publicizing has an impact on brain action. 5?IR=T
[11] https://imsynthiachan.wordpress.com/tag/sfx-
Observations magazine/
 Subliminal Advertising has been around for quite a while
now and is here to stay as more and more companies are Bibliography
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the companies have been using such messages, even Subliminal Advertising: New Experimental Data on the
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messages a „contest‟ and eliminating the chance of being
frowned upon. But, Disney‟s ABC did not buy into this idea
of a „contest‟ and refused the airing of the advertisement.

Whether such advertising is successful or not is still up for

debate, but we can conclude without a doubt that such
activities are being conducted on a daily basis and we are
being exposed to messages that we are not even aware of.
Marketers are using new and innovative techniques to
create a lasting impression in the minds of their prospective
consumers and to lure them into purchasing their products /
brands.

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