Abstract :
Subliminal advertising is not being used by advertising practitioners. This advertising strategy was introduced by Jim Vicary in 1957, based on the supposed effectiveness of below-conscious perception of flashed images in film media. His research was later debunked as fraudulent, but has nevertheless continued to be accepted by both the public and some advertising quarters as a legitimate and effective practice. To settle this issue once and for all, a survey of advertising agency members, their clients and media production professionals is conducted as to whether or not they have ever used, or been connected with a firm that used, subliminal advertising. The results reveal that the majority denied ever using this advertising strategy, despite the public's fears of this method of 'brainwashing.' In addition, a significant part of the minority that answered in the affirmative is shown to have misinterpreted 'subliminal' as 'subtle.'