The Phantom Plug

The dream of the television pitchman is wondrously simple: to get painlessly but surely inside the viewer's head. To make the dream come true, two young companies are peddling "subliminal perception," the psychological phenomenon whereby a sight too fleeting to register consciously takes root subtly in the viewer's subconscious mind. This technique could flash phantom plugs on the television screen at speeds too fast (around one three-thousandth of a second) for the viewer to realize that a Madison Avenue Rasputin was selling him beer not only between the rounds of a prizefight but between the very punches.

Last week FCC Chairman John C. Doerfer assured Utah's outraged Republican Representative William A. Dawson that the FCC was investigating whether such sly brainwashing was already being practiced on unsuspecting viewers. All three networks hastily denied that they had touched the Orwellian gimmick developed by Manhattan's Subliminal Projection Co., Inc. and Experimental Films Inc. of New Orleans, but some network executives seemed curious and interested. If the FCC discovers phantom plugs on the air waves, explained Doerfer, it must still make up its mind whether it has any control over them. But Representative Dawson is champing to introduce a bill outlawing any such tampering with the viewer's psyche.

The two rival companies talk confidently of the power of the hidden sell. Subliminal Projections for six weeks flashed the words "Eat Popcorn," and "Drink Coca-Cola" on the screen of a New Jersey movie theater during the regular show. Obediently, customers trooped to the lobby, boosted sales of popcorn by 57.7% and Coke by 18.1%. Going from the subliminal to the ridiculous, Experimental Films says that their technique can also "enhance sensory projections and dramatic values" to make TV entertainment seem better than it really is.

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