The 1957 notice clearly stated that the FCC considered the use of subliminal messages to the inappropriate by broadcasters. No further immediate action was judged necessary because licensees appeared to be behaving responsibly. In 1958, the National Association of Broadcasters amended its code to bar the use of these messages. Broadcasters interest in subliminal messages appeared to wane in the face of FCC policy statements, industry prohibitions and the lack of persuasive test results. An FCC investigation revealed that the advertising agency which produced the advertisement had already dispatched telegrams to the stations informing them of the existence of the subliminal message and authorizing them to delete it.
Broadcasts employing such techniques are contrary to the public interest.
Whether effective of not, such broadcasts clearly are intended to be deceptive. That statement in 1974 continues to contain the essence of Commission policy on this issue, and it appears to be good law and good social policy. As noted above, our complaint level is now so low as to be only a persistent trace at the agency reflecting, as far as we can tell, more public fascination with this issue and concern over the undesirable manipulative possibilities of the technique than evidence of any actual use. Nothing in the information flowing into the Commission at this time has suggested the need for any new Commission initiative in this area. In the meantime, we think this is good law because it has consumed a minimum amount of Commission resources.