Television commercials/ if you blink you'll miss them

[pugzleyca3]

I was watching television yesterday and during commercial break there were the usual restless leg syndrome and PAD drug commercials with the "ask your doctor" statements.

Immediately after these I saw for just a split second the word AMBIENCE or AMBIANCE flash on the screen in yellow capital letters. The letters were quite large and at the top of the screen, there was something else below it and no time to read it. This happened so fast that it left me wondering if I had actually seen it. But I know I did because I've seen it happen before but I can't remember now what it was.

I am sure there was a sleep drug being advertised under this name, but when I did a net search, nothing came up.

Has anyone else seen this? Or is this old news on this forum?

Que Twilight Zone music and thoughts of THEY LIVE.

I guess this is another good reason to turn off the television, but I have others in the house who won't give it up and sometimes, in order to spend time with them, I watch with them. Though it's like being in the room with someone who is hypnotized. I know they don't notice when I'm not there, I don't know why I'd think they would notice if I was.

We have toys and games
Does the sun rise and set
If no one sees it?

[posting tulpa]

Thought of using Tivo or some other DVR to look? I catch subliminal advos all the time. I have trained myslef to ignore commercials for the most part, but they still work to some degree......granted I don't buy the actual product but the commercials themeselves actually become memorable. Especially the more humorous of them...like the recent Snickers commercials with the guy singing with his acoustic guitar or the Dasani commercial with the guy in the bear suit...classic. Makes me laugh every time. I still don't drink Dasani or eat Snickers.

PS I bet Hugh will be all over this thread.....

[Wombaticus Rex]

^^They're actually most effective when you ignore them, apparently. The data is pretty consistent on that.

[John E. Nemo]

^You have to study your enemy in order to find his weaknesses, methinks.

In an interesting synchronicity/serendipity/whatever, I was about to post some things I've noticed on the ole idiot box lately that are a bit disturbing.

1. The show "HOUSE" - had an episode where they "rationally explained" a UFO abductees experiences; the chip in his neck( pin from setting a broken bone that "migrated") and the abduction (surprise, surprise , the kid was dreaming).

Now you don't have to believe, thanks to the smart doctors on House, Rupert Murdoch and Fox TV.

2. The show "SuperNanny" - why, praytell, did they have to show the family starting their "supernanny treatment session" at 9:11 in the morning?
Probably for the same reason that the ads in my MSN Messenger for Western Union show a clock with the time 9:11 on it?
Why not 9:00 or 9:10 or 9:12?

It couldn't be to keep that meme going and keep the people in a state of constant fear, could it?

3. CNN - Why from June 1999 to March 2000, did CNN employ military specialists in ‘psychological operations’ (Psyops) in their Southeast TV bureau and CNN radio division. ?

Read the whole article at.....
http://www.projectcensored.org/publications/2001/3.html

4. In a related note, if Hugh's completely wrong about the whole "keyword hijacking" thing, why is it that when I google the keyword "tv psyop", the first 4 links are dead links to a company that doesn't exist?

Could it be to push the actual story about REAL TV PSYOPS to the bottom of or off the front page?

[professorpan]

1. The show "HOUSE" - had an episode where they "rationally explained" a UFO abductees experiences; the chip in his neck( pin from setting a broken bone that "migrated") and the abduction (surprise, surprise , the kid was dreaming).

So? TV writers have done all sorts of takes on UFOs -- it's a part of pop culture.

2. The show "SuperNanny" - why, praytell, did they have to show the family starting their "supernanny treatment session" at 9:11 in the morning?
Probably for the same reason that the ads in my MSN Messenger for Western Union show a clock with the time 9:11 on it?
Why not 9:00 or 9:10 or 9:12?

Because 9/11 is a number with deep resonance with people?

3. CNN - Why from June 1999 to March 2000, did CNN employ military specialists in ‘psychological operations’ (Psyops) in their Southeast TV bureau and CNN radio division. ?

Aha! Now you're onto something -- something real, tangible, and useful.

4. In a related note, if Hugh's completely wrong about the whole "keyword hijacking" thing, why is it that when I google the keyword "tv psyop", the first 4 links are dead links to a company that doesn't exist?

I don't know what search engine you're using, but google provides links to several interesting sites.

[url]http://www.google.com/search?q=tv+psyop&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
[/url]

[jingofever]

pugzleyca3, I believe you are thinking of Ambien, or Zolpidem, according to wikipedia. That sort of split second advertising reminds me of blipverts from Max Headroom. Wikipedia has this to say about those:

"""
Real-life examples

Master Lock, which had already made the image of a padlock shot by a sharpshooter into a lasting advertising image with their ad in the Super Bowl in 1974, incorporated that video image, along with its logo, in a one-second-long television commercial in 1998. It is not believed to have caused anyone to experience negative effects.

In May 2006, GE introduced "One Second Theater," television commercials with additional material included as individual frames in the last second of the ad, for frame-by-frame viewing with digital video recorders. When viewed at normal speed, the frames flash by rapidly, not unlike blipverts. In a press release, GE described "One Second Theater" as, "Harkening back to the days of Ronald Reagan and GE Theater."
"""

[professorpan]

My thoughts also -- it was probably Ambien, a sleep aid.

Ambien has been under fire lately because some people wake up and sleepwalk after taking it. I've taken it on a couple of occasions -- if you stay awake after taking it, it is mildly hallucinogenic.

[John E. Nemo]

I find it very intersting that nothing ever passes your lil "screen test", prof.

All you do is try and discredit what either I or Hugh says and deposit your rationalist B.S. in its place.

When I want any of your lip, I'll scrap it off my zipper, ya fucking troll.

F.O.A.D.

[pugzleyca3]

I wonder if I added the last few letters subconsciously or if they were there? I believe they were probably advertising Ambien in that flash.

Even so, I don't like that kind of thing being used on me and others who are watching the tube. It's sneaky.

My husband is really addicted and I swear, he even has it on during dinner while we're eating.

[professorpan]

I find it very intersting that nothing ever passes your lil "screen test", prof.

All you do is try and discredit what either I or Hugh says and deposit your rationalist B.S. in its place.

When I want any of your lip, I'll scrap it off my zipper, ya fucking troll.

F.O.A.D.

Wow, reply to a post and this is what I get! I actually found one of your examples worthy of more discussion, but that makes me a "fucking troll" who should "fuck off and die."

Man, someone got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning....

[jingofever]

Is it just me or do other people think professor pan is the most unfairly maligned poster here?

[orz]

4. In a related note, if Hugh's completely wrong about the whole "keyword hijacking" thing, why is it that when I google the keyword "tv psyop", the first 4 links are dead links to a company that doesn't exist?

Sarcastic answer: because you don't know how to use the internet properly?
Sincere answer: Even if every result for "tv psyop" was about fluffy kittens patriotically joining the US Marines, this would in no way, purely logically speaking, prove that Hugh was right or wrong.

That sort of split second advertising reminds me of blipverts from Max Headroom.

And that, plus the excuse of a thread on TV Weirdness, reminds me of this very very strange incidence of pirate TV broadcasting which i discovered on youtube today:

Imagine you're sitting in front of the TV, watching Dr Who in 1987, when this happens:
(May be 'triggering' whatever that even means?.... and possibly very mildly NSFW?)

[orz]

oops double post

[orz]

Is it just me or do other people think professor pan is the most unfairly maligned poster here?

Me too... I mean I admit my sarcastic quip to lengthy informative post ratio isn't too good to say the least, but Pan usually posts perfectly reasonable and coherent arguments and gets shot down in flames.

Also I genuinely love the fact that on this board, suggesting that TV ads might not contain subliminal evil mind-control commands is deemed trolling... Most places it would kind of be the other way around.

[professorpan]

Imagine you're sitting in front of the TV, watching Dr Who in 1987, when this happens:

I was in my late teens, and watching an episode of Larry King's show on TV. He was discussing the death of a young boy who had been beaten to death with a baseball bat by some other kids. (Sorry, but I'm fuzzy on the details).

All of a sudden, another image bled through the interview as the mother was describing her grief at the loss of her son -- the image, in sickly green, of someone swinging a baseball bat!

It really freaked me out, to the point where I made some phone calls (this was pre-Internet). CNN's lines were jammed for hours.

I read in the newspaper the next day, or shortly thereafter, that it was a technical glitch -- signal from a baseball game bled-through into the Larry King interview.

It was an extremely bizarre and unsettling synchronicity.