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Subliminal messages in films isn't a new thing. They have taken many forms by flashing words for a single frame, using iconic images on props and product placements.

There are also stories in the music industry where songs played backwards would reveal a hidden message, and television is no exception either. Here is a YouTube video a news story discussing the subject.

What is the first appearance of a subliminal message in a feature film?

Can you provide a sample image to support the claim there was a hidden message?

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    So your question is "Is there any film where playing a video message backwards reveals a subliminal message?"
    – Mistu4u
    Jan 26, 2013 at 6:49
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    This is a potential list question, unless it turns out there is none or only one.
    – Oliver_C
    Jan 26, 2013 at 10:48
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    DO subliminal messages really exist and have an evidence? If you have any evidence, please report it at skeptics.stachexchange
    – knut
    Jan 26, 2013 at 14:06
  • @Oliver_C I'll change it later when I have time.
    – Reactgular
    Jan 26, 2013 at 23:07
  • I've not seen a subliminal message in a movie get discovered on a replay of a video or some other form of media. But I've seen someone dream about an experience they had, and see something in their dream that they missed in reality. Laura Palmer's mother see's Laura's killer in her bedroom in the movie version of Twin Peaks...and it's really creepy!
    – BB Stacker
    Jan 29, 2013 at 16:28

1 Answer 1

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Subliminal messages first came screaming into American consciousness in the mid-1950's when American market/motivational researcher James Vicary demonstrated the tachistoscope, a device used to flash consciously invisible messages on a screen which could be seen only by the subconscious mind. During one six-week test in a Fort Lee, New Jersey movie theater, involving 45,699 patrons, messages were flashed on alternate days over Kim Novak's calming face: "Hungry? Eat Popcorn," and "Drink CocaCola" During the six weeks, popcorn sales rose 57.7 percent and Coca-Cola sales rose 18.1 percent

Experimental research in the late 1950's yielded data strongly emphasizing the enormous potential for the mass communications industry or subliminally induced print and electronic media content.

By the late 1960's, subliminal messages had been exhaustively tested in eight areas of human behavior: dreams, memory, value norm anchor points, conscious perception verbal behavior, emotions, drives, and perceptual defenses. There is at present, no serious question that human behavior can be influenced by stimulation or information at which individuals, groups or even societies are completely unaware.

Then in the late 1970's and 1980, stories leaked out to the public about subliminal messages reducing shoplifting losses in retail stores across the country, an article appeared about the use of subliminal messages in advertising.

Numerous follow-up experiments in other media formats have confirmed, time and time again the effectiveness of this powerful communications tool.(source)

Some Instances of subliminal messages are listed here - Wikipedia

From the list the oldest one is

In Warner Brothers' 1943 animated film Wise Quacking Duck, Daffy Duck spins a statue which is holding a shield. For one frame the words "BUY BONDS" are visible on the shield.

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    wow, wasn't expecting a Daffy Duck film! No wonder the 50's generation was so messed up.
    – Reactgular
    Jan 30, 2013 at 14:42

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