Whose Thought Is It Anyway?

The following is a MediaNote Classic. It was originally presented to MC101 students in February 2016.

Some years ago one of the presidential candidates took a much-publicized trip to a flag factory. He had no particular reason to be there, but he knew that the TV and newspaper cameras would inevitably capture images of the candidate striding through an inspirational and photogenic sea of American flags. Besides, it was the Fourth of July. The candidate rose in the polls.

Advertisers know that the real way to persuade people is to grab them by their emotions. And emotions are most easily aroused through pictures. Sometimes those pictures are obvious, like flags in a flag factory, and sometimes they aren't. This video is about the persuasive power of images that aren't so obvious.

Questions...

•How were the advertising executives manipulated by subliminal images?

•Do you think this type of manipulation is ethical?

•Do you think this video is true? Is it exaggerated? Is it a pack of lies? How credible is the source?

•Create a subliminal ad for Mass Comm 101 on the Glendale College campus.