FOR SOME REASON, I was under the impression that the
fuss last summer over subliminal (or sub- threshold) advertising—or that aspect.of it where split-second ads are put on cinema or TV. screens so briefly that the conscious mind is not aware of them—arose out of Vance Packard's The !did-' den Persuaders. Reading the English edition (Longmans, 18s.) of the book, though, I see the story appeared first in the Sunday Times; and the Sunday Times, when he asked for more information, produced the traditional excuse : 'although the facts we published are well attested, the authorities in question are unwilling to come any further into the open.' Am I right in thinking that all of us, the Sunday Times included, have been well and truly hoaxed? There is, of course, some evidence that the subconscious is a little quicker on the uptake, as it were, than the con- scious mind; but is there evidence that anybody has found a way to put this to commercial use? I put this question to a friend of mine in advertis- ing, who has been investigating the subject for his own dubious purposes. He replied that he has found incontrovertible evidence that subliminal advertisers have been here : dozens of his col- leagues met them; they all had snow on their boots.
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