High School Hidden Persuaders
By: Brian Dickens Barrabee
Tags: Kids, Schools, Humor, Advertising, Politics

With this type of a campaign how could I lose? The kids would vote for me without even knowing why.

Photo by Krists Luhaers on Unsplash

Allow me to start this story with a spoiler alert: I have never won an election

for anything.

Nothing.

And I’ve only entered one — this one.

The campaign was for high school sophomore class president. Please don’t ask me what madness possessed me at this particular place in time to participate in such an out of character undertaking.

I didn’t involve myself in many extracurricular activities in high school other than sports.

One of my teammates on the football team suggested that I join the film crew.

Now, why would I do that?

Every Friday afternoon Asbury Park High School showed educational films to the whole student body. I should say the 95% of the kids. Everyone who chose not to watch the movie would have to attend a monitored study hall that final period before we were all set free for the weekend.

The films were usually biographies of famous people or National Geographic Travelogues .

Being on the film crew meant you were released from the 5th period class on Friday to enable you to string the film and ready the projector to show the film in the final period.

The high school had a large auditorium that would fill up with students, some of whom looked forward all week to seeing those movies.

It was educational to the kids who were remotely receptive to education; a social kick to most others and a reprieve from supervised study hall or class to all.

There were 4 kids on the film crew in addition to my friend and me. I liked them all but catagorize them as being smart and nerdy. I dismissed them as potential friends.

One kid named Oliver wouldn’t be dismissed. I felt myself being drawn to him in spite of the fact that he didn’t appear to check off any of the blocks on my list for possible buddies.

He was smart and accepted me as being more than just a dumb jock.

Oliver knew that I was running for sophomore class president. He also knew that I was ambivalent about actually winning the position. He realized that I had done nothing to enhance my chances of victory in terms of campaigning.

One Friday a month before the election, Oliver decided to take my quest for the position of sophomore class president into his own hands.

He left a note wedged in my locker asking me to meet him in the projection booth just before 5th period that Friday. He wanted to explain something.

I arrived at the booth at the appointed time. Oliver was already there.

I sat down in front of the gigantic old projector we used for the Friday movies.

Oliver started to describe the concept of subliminal advertising.

It was fascinating. Imagine, messages that the conscience mind can’t perceive inserted into commercials, songs and movies.

MOVIES?

Oliver laid out our (yes, it was now our) campaign plan. Before the election we would insert into the Friday afternoon movie a subliminal message to help me become elected sophomore class president.

After all, most of the kids in school would be in the auditorium. If they could be persuaded subliminally to vote for me, I wouldn’t have to do anything more — would I?

The idea appealed to me.

“But, Oliver, how to we get the message integrated into the movie?” I asked.

He told me he’d work on it and show me the following week.

I must say, I was starting to look forward to Friday afternoons with Oliver. It was 2 weeks before the election and I was feeling pressure but almost paralyzed to do anything about it. The kids who did these political things in school weren’t anywhere near my crowd.

And then there was Oliver.

In the booth that Friday, Oliver explained that we would carve

VOTE FOR BRIAN BARRABEE FOR SOPH0MORE CLASS PRESIDENT

with a pin in the cellulose acetate of the film.

Ideally the film would run uninterrupted and the message would flash accross the screen without anyone even knowing but the subliminal effect would be implanted; below the level awareness.

And I’d be president of the sophomore class! Without anybody even realizing it!

Sitting in the projection booth with the film crew that Friday before the election was a time of anticipation for me; even more so for Oliver.

He told me that he’d alert me when the subliminal message was going to flash accross the screen. Although I won’t see it, I’d at least be aware of it.

The movie was running.

Almost simultaneously, I felt Oliver poke me in the ribs and saw the image of a National Geographic visit to jungle of Uganda on the screen — freeze. Then a brief message jiggling on the screen with the words Vot BRABEE ASS. That was followed by a browning then blacking of the cellulose acetate.

The movie screen turned blank white.

The projection booth was filling with smoke. Because of Oliver’s message the powerful bulb in the projector had burned through the film that was stuck, jamming the motor.

The auditorium fire alarm was loudly ringing . The students filing out the exits forming well rehearsed lines practiced in countless fire drills.

I was not elected sophmore class president; my nomination being withdrawn by the principal.

I was suspended from school for a day and my parents ordered to pay the ruined rented film and the cost of the fire department’s visit.The whole thing was made more of than I’d wished.

The school board got involved.

I was forced to get a paper route to pay my parents back.

One thing though; I got the admiration of the other kids in Asbury Park High School.

How cool that botched attempt at subliminal advertising.

I swear, if I were allowed to run for sophmore class president after that , I’d have won — hands down.

Hey! Maybe subliminal advertising does work.