A few words from our sponsor...
J. Kevin Tumlinson

Remember when going to the movies meant over-priced popcorn and soda, sticky floors, cramped and uncomfortable seats, and complaining about the previews? These days, the popcorn and sodas are still over-priced, but the seats are reclining comfort stations, and the floors are carpeted, so no more sticky feet! As for the previews-well, they're still around. Only now, instead of just the fifteen minutes or so of exciting, upcoming features that we used to deal with, we get an additional ten minutes of COMMERCIALS!

I still remember the first time it happened to me. I was sitting with fifty to a hundred of my dearest perfect strangers, enjoying the pre-movie slide show (also commercials. Coca-cola, do you really need that much advertisement?), and then the lights go down, the screen lights up, the music starts and WAM! It's a commercial for a popular soft drink (I think you know the one)!

I remember the cacophony of comments and outbursts. Everyone, for the first time in my lengthy career as a movie-goer, had the same exact reaction!

"What the heck is THIS?"

"Are you kidding me?"

"Hey, did I fall asleep on the couch? Is this a pizza dream?"

Surprise! No one liked the idea. But that's to be expected. No one ever likes being subjected to advertisement. But this! This felt like a betrayal! I remember feeling violated. Sound silly? I know. It does sound silly. It sounds downright naïve. But in this case, the first gut reaction of that audience might have been completely appropriate.

Here's Why.

LET'S ALL GO TO THE LOBBY!

In the late 1950's certain movie-going audiences were subjected to an experiment. The test was pretty simple, actually. A few frames in the feature film were replaced with single shot images of tasty treats from the snack bar. Why? Here's where things get freaky.

To understand what happened, you first have to know that when you watch something in a movie or a television, you're not seeing what you think you're seeing. What looks like a smooth, continuous scene is actually a succession of still frames moving at about 30 frames per second. It's just fast enough that your brain "fills in the gaps," and you are fooled into thinking you see actual movement.

Now for the freaky part. In the 50's the theater owners in our little tale decided to try boosting snack bar sales by replacing a few random frames with pictures of ice cold beverages, sweet looking candy, and tasty looking popcorn. The result? A marked increase in concession sales.

It wasn't anything a moviegoer would have noticed. The frames were spread out, so there was essentially just a flash on the screen, barely noticeable, and suddenly he or she felt that they would really enjoy something to drink. And thus the concept of subliminal advertising was born.

Since then, laws have been passed to prevent this sort of thing. After all, it smacks of "subverting your will." It's basically the same as drugging you and forcing you to buy stuff. But how does this apply to commercials where previews used to be?

It's the same concept, actually, just spread out more. Think about it. If you see something enough times, it starts sticking with you. The idea behind subliminal messages is actually the same idea at the root of ALL advertising: get YOU to buy the product. So, by seeing the same message over and over again you're being influenced in exactly the same way as the subliminal ads. It just takes longer.

Don't agree? Take this test.

THE TEST

Answer the following questions. If you get more than three, start asking yourself why.

1. Can you sing all of the ingredients of the Big Mac?
2. Fill in the blank: Have a Coke and a ______.
3. Fill in the blank: There's always room for _____.
4. Can you name more than three of the McDonald's characters, not including Ronald?
5. Who is Dave Thomas?
6. Tastes great or less filling?

Ok, so how did you do? Probably very well In fact, I'd be surprised if every single person reading this didn't get all six, regardless of age, gender or nationality. Why? Because the ads themselves are everywhere!

Recently the subways in New York City agreed to begin a new advertising campaign in which mobile billboards would be placed along the inside of the subway tunnels. The effect is the same as with film. As the train moves, the pictures outside the window seem to be in motion. The result is a moving advertisement just outside the window of a commuter train! Neat… but is it a sign of things to come? Or maybe just a sign of how things already are?

What about the web? When you logged on to this site, did a pop up ad appear? Probably. Hey, I might be pointing out the advertising as a sign of the decline of civilization, but that doesn't make it any less necessary!

Ok, so we see ads on TV. We see ads in magazines and newspapers. We hear them on the radio, we see them on the web, and dog-gone it we see them while we commute to work, either on the street or now on the subway. So I ask you, is there any escape, just for a little while, from people who are demanding that I buy something?

There used to be. But now, as the lights dim and the silver screen comes to life, your escape becomes just one more way to reach you as a target audience. I'm not a doom-sayer. I know this isn't the end of the world as we know it. But isn't it annoying? Don't you miss just being able to complain about the length of the previews?

J. Kevin Tumlinson is a writer and a teacher living in Lake Jackson, TX. He's going to the lobby, do you want anything?