Fred Allen once said, “An advertising agency is eight-five percent confusion and fifteen percent commission.” We are exposed to hundreds of commercials every day. Despite this mammoth exposure, we often do not actually notice or focus on them. Commercials seem to seep quietly into the back room of our consciousness. Unnoticed and tacitly approved, commercials socialize and condition us without our knowledge. Provocative subliminal advertising is designed to influence and motivate consumers to purchase particular services or products. These are messages camouflaged within the commercials below the threshold of awareness.

Does this means there is no silent subliminal anywhere in the media? Not possible. In a country as large as the United States with so many ambitious, creative, and even slippery characters, it seems highly likely that a handful of marketers subliminally embed sexy messages in commercials. They could accomplish this by airbrushing or using high-powered video editing techniques. What's more some communications like rock songs and motivational audiotapes probably contain short messages that lie below the limit of conscious awareness. Hence, the key question is: what impact do silent subliminal messages have consumers’ behavior or attitudes?

The first evidence of subliminal advertising effects came in 1950s on the effects of "Drink Coca-Cola" and "Eat Popcorn" messages. At the time, the study seemed to suggest that silent subliminal could potently shape human behavior. However when researched peeled beneath the surface, the theory had serious flaws. There was absolutely no way of knowing whether cinemagoers bought Cokes and more popcorn because they were hungry and thirty that particular day. It was even possible that the film itself stimulated sales; for it was named "Picnic" and showed several scenes of people enjoying refreshments. Expectation obviously has powerful influence on social behavior, and perhaps humans want to believe in “What You See Is Not What You Get.”