Subliminal advertising: A collective term for public announcements designed to promote the sale of specific commodities or services while being integrated below the threshold of perception or awareness. To sell products, merchants consciously use subliminal advertising as a basis for general consumerism. This seems like an unnecessary task, but when taken into consideration all the people, who have expressed their disbelief in its effectiveness, it is obvious to see how vital and necessary such a …showed first 75 words of 1712 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1712 total…message conveyed in subliminal advertising. Even as we are aware of the nature of perceiving, subliminal symbols and/or words in magazine advertisements are difficult to recognize when first attempted. Wilson Key has written, "As a culture, North America might well be described as one enormous, complex, magnificent, self-service, subliminal massage parlor." In short, the effect that advertising (whatever this concept might include) has on human buying attitudes and behavior is of almost incomprehensible complexity.