Subliminal Messaging

Subliminal messaging is just in movies right. You can't cause people to buy things through hiding words in songs or having someone drink a coke in some clever product placement can you? I don't know the answer for sure, but I do know a far more useful use of subliminal messaging...

Subliminal messaging music

Listen to the track above. What do you hear? Probably a horrible sounding electric guitar ring tone, and you are right, but this is a ring tone with a twist. This melody was made by a Japanese cognitive scientist named Hideto Tomabechi and will increase your girl friends bust by about 2-3cm. HOLD ON GUYS! Before you run off to secretly insert it into your significant others phone and put them on speed dial you should know how subliminal messaging actually works.

Subliminal messaging works in music by building a song around with auditory components associated with a naturally occurring physiological condition - or in layman's terms - creating music with sounds that already trigger a physiological response. For example: In a restaurant you could make some music with undertones of a rumbling stomach, then disguise it alter it so it isn't obvious and play it along side musical instruments, in this case it could make patrons more hungry. Alternatively you could create a music piece with low intimate tones to get your partner in the mood aka a subtle Berry White! hehe. Contrary to popular belief it does not work by reversing a song!

How this piece of music works is to resemble a crying baby, which causes the body to believe there is a crying baby, which in turn makes a woman's breasts increase in size in preparation of nursing their own child. Of course this isn't a one time listen! It takes about 200 listens before an effect is measurable (10 days at 20 listens per day).



Although I would guess subliminal messaging is not used often in music, it can be seen often in visual advertisements and follow the main themes of Sex and Hunger. As NPR "Wait Wait Don't tell me" Host Peter Segal said: "It is nice to see the Japanese spending some of their sexual energy on Woman and not just robots."

For anyone interested here is a CIA report on Subliminal Messaging.