Subliminal Advertisement Case Study

#1: Was the publisher of The Hidden Persuaders acting ethically when it published this book? Introduced in 1957, Vance Packard published "The Hidden Persuaders". Claiming results from a research project performed in a movie theater, Packard stated that by inserting subliminal messages into frames of the films, sales would be boosted. These messages would contain such phrases as "Buy Popcorn", or "Buy Coke". In his manual he posted that concession stand sales after the advertising rose close …

…the clothes we wear, to the things we eat, to the places we go. This is what makes other companies larger and more successful; by making themselves known in the consumers mind. Their claims are completely false due to the fact that if advertising in itself was not affective, then why do they spend so much of their funds advertising their products so vigorously if it were not going to return profit for the company?