American business practices are aggressive. This is due to the fact that sales technology in America is the same commodity as bicycles or boots, and much less expensive than actual production. No need to rent space for production and purchase of tools for it, scientific and technical development of products, search for specialists. As a result, America became the home of many methods of subliminal influence - this is the name of manipulating people based on working with their subconscious.
Features and results of experiments
One of these techniques is the so-called 25th frame. At its basis, James Vickery put the idea of an "extra" frame, which is inserted into the video sequence of the film and affects the subconscious of a person. Every 24 frames, at 1/3000 of a second, another frame with an advertisement was added, which viewers unknowingly perceive as a guide to action. This insertion does not attract attention, but is deposited in the subconscious. Vickery conducted his experiments in the summer of 1957 in a cinema in Fort Lee (New Jersey): in films every 24 frames a hidden advertisement for popcorn and Coca-Cola flashed. And sales during the views increased: Coca-Cola - by 18%, and popcorn - by 57.8%.
Panic and excitement
After the publication of the results of the experiment, the reaction of the public was different. Some liked the idea: Vickery's lectures were very popular, businessmen rushed to buy technology. It began to be used in politics, especially during election campaigns, and in the educational process - as a mode of education.
However, some journalists, educators and politicians sounded the alarm, because against the background of such an easy way to achieve the desired result, the demand for their professionalism was threatened. There were accusations of zombifying society and thus violating the human right to independent decision-making. The journalist Norman Cousinis published an accusatory article, "The Tainted Subconscious."
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25th frame in films
In a number of films, directors have used this technology to increase interest in their films. For example, in the series "Babylon 5", "And now - the word."
However, it was soon discovered that the Vickery system had a side effect. In Japan, where the 25th frame was inserted into a cartoon about Pokemon, the technique was accused of causing harm to the health of children, since after watching the cartoons, some of them had epileptic seizures.
Exposure
The technique was purchased for a TV store and the text "Call Now" was played on the 25th frame. But the reception didn't work.
The American professional publication "Advertising Research Foundation" demanded from Vickery to provide documentary data on his experiments. But he refused.
A student from New York Stuart Rogers, collecting material for an essay, came to Fort Lee to meet the owner of a cinema in which, according to Vickery, experiments were staged. It turned out that no experiments of this kind had ever been carried out in the cinema, and the size of the auditorium did not at all correspond to what Vickery was talking about.
A group of scientists from the University of Nijmegen in the Netherlands under the leadership of Johan Karremans conducted their research and came to the conclusion that the impact on the subconscious of people is not perceived by them uncritically, that is, as a signal for action, with the exception of mentally unbalanced people. Inserts into the film should last about a minute so that the viewer has time to evaluate the product and determine for himself whether he needs it or not.
Five years after the introduction of the technology, James Vickery was forced to admit that all the results of the experiments were fabricated by him, and the technique itself is a fraud.
25th frame in Russia
American manipulation technologies entered Russia in the 1990s. We took them very seriously and even banned them at the legislative level. Clause 9 of Article 5 ("Hidden Ads") reads:
“It is not allowed to use it in radio, television, video, audio and film production or in other products and to distribute hidden advertising, that is, advertising that has an impact on their minds that consumers do not realize, including such impact through the use of special video inserts (double sound recording) and in other ways”.
In Russia, they invented the expression "Effect of the 25th frame", in America it is "Methods of influencing the subconscious." In the States, by that period, they had already lost their relevance, and the Russian market turned out to be too receptive to everything that came from overseas.
The mechanism of success of such methods among Russian businessmen is popularly explained by Artemy Lebedev: “Mysticism and superstition dominate the mind of the customer. As soon as something appears, the exact mechanism of action of which is not very clear, the customer will respond with a positive reflex, like a trained Pavlovian dog. Unclear? I take it."
Until now, the technique of the 25th frame is used in Russia to attract clients in such areas as language learning, yoga meditation practices, health improvement and weight loss.
Galina Pogodina