# Subliminal Messages: What's the deal?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subliminal-messages-whats-the-deal/79575>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 3, 2001, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subliminal-messages-whats-the-deal/79575 "2001-09-03T22:15:09Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![nani](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/58956e/32.png) [@nani](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nani)\
**Post date:** [September 3, 2001, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subliminal-messages-whats-the-deal/79575/1 "2001-09-03T22:15:09Z")

</div>

Subliminal messages. These things are flashes of messages that can’t be seen by the regular human eye but for some reason imprint themselves on the brain. After hearing that whole fuss about the Rats thing in the election, i have found increasing numbers of subliminal messages on web videos and such. Is this legal? how does it work?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\
**Post date:** [September 3, 2001, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subliminal-messages-whats-the-deal/79575/2 "2001-09-03T22:30:02Z")

</div>

Two responses about this from the master:

[http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2\_344.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_344.html)

[http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1\_187.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_187.html)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![upperdeckfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/65b543/32.png) [@upperdeckfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/upperdeckfan)\
**Post date:** [September 3, 2001, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subliminal-messages-whats-the-deal/79575/3 "2001-09-03T22:36:57Z")

</div>

ABSOLUTELYsendmeNOmoneySUCHnowTHING.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Tedster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4491bb/32.png) [@Tedster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tedster)\
**Post date:** [September 3, 2001, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subliminal-messages-whats-the-deal/79575/4 "2001-09-03T22:49:27Z")

</div>

Subliminal advertising is pretty much of joke in todays cesspool advertising. I mean, what’s the supposed advantage to laying the word “SEX” on Ritz crackers when you can watch people fucking on cable, or any number of ‘talented’ MTV Ho’s swangin’ their pussy right in your face?

Oh well.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\
**Post date:** [September 4, 2001, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subliminal-messages-whats-the-deal/79575/5 "2001-09-04T01:13:30Z")

</div>

In addition to the Master’s efforts linked above by **Qadgop** , there’s another article, [subliminal](http://www.skepdic.com/subliminal.html), at The Skeptic’s Dictionary. It concludes, as does Cecil, that there is no appreciable effect from subliminal message transmission.