[StopGlobalWhining]

I'm not sure I buy this, but I will reserve judgement pending additional research on subliminal effects. However, I think XXXX was a poor choice of control word in this study. During the six-thousandth of a second that it was visible, if in fact it registered at all on the mind of a viewer, it may have been interpreted as XXX which could have a negative connotation. ZZZZ or NNNN or some other combination would probably be more neutral.

[martin_fierro]

What manner of jackass dreamed up this theory about subliminal messages??

[just mimi]

"The good news from this research, says Weinberger, is that the experiment didn't detect an unconscious bias against Arabs among study participants."

Does that mean that the experiment didn't work, or that the participants have been declared bias-free? Unconsciously anyway... ;)

[vrwinger]

Regardless of the study, Al Gore could not have been damaged by the subliminal message of RATS in that TV spot beacuse all of the media coverage of it moved RATS out of the subliminal and into the conscious. Al lost on his own merits (or lack of them) and not because this TV ad scuttled him, as this article implies.

That being said, I think subliminal messages can be used in some instances very effectively. I agree XXXX was not neutral. ZZZZ would imply sleeping or lethergy, which could also be a negative.

[coloradan]

Democrat leaders compare Bush to Hitler, Republicans to Nazis, and the platform to that of the KKK for months, despite the lack of a factual basis for any such charges - and they're bothered about 1/30th of a second of "rats." Oh! The humanity!!

[governsleastgovernsbest]

That's odd. When I saw the ad, rather than an urge to vote for W, I had this sudden craving for the extra-large bucket of buttered popcorn, the super-sized Coke and the mega-Milk Duds!