Popcorn

I grew up with stories about the dangers of subliminal messages. I was afraid I would be forced to do something based on hidden visual manipulation.

The fear started in the late 1950s when a market researcher named James Vicary claimed that he had inserted subliminal messages—“Drink Coca-Cola” and “Eat Popcorn”—into a movie being shown in a New Jersey theater. According to Vicary, the messages were flashed on the screen so quickly (1/3000th of a second) that the conscious mind couldn’t see them, but the subconscious did. Sales of Coke reportedly jumped 18%. Popcorn? Up 57%. Panic ensued. Conspiracy theories exploded. Governments got involved. People feared their minds were being hijacked.

There was just one problem: Vicary made it all up. He had a failing marketing company and was hoping to drive some business.

The study never happened. The numbers were fabricated. When pressed for evidence, he squirmed, delayed, and eventually admitted he’d lied. But the damage was done. Laws were passed banning subliminal advertising. TV shows and books leaned into the paranoia. “Subliminal” became shorthand for “manipulated without consent.”

And almost everyone believed it. Not just for a moment, either. The lie continues to haunt common beliefs.

What I hear isn’t always true. What I think I know can be wrong, no matter how long I have believed it. No matter how many people believe it. And just because something feels real doesn’t mean it is.

Our brains are meaning-making machines, and sometimes they’re too good at their job. It connects dots from different pictures. It mistakes suggestions for truths. Fears for facts. Opinions for evidence.

Have I questioned what I know to be true? Is it based on an unquestioned story I’ve absorbed? Is my fear based on something that isn’t even real?

Be curious, be kind, be whole, do good things.