Subliminal Messaging

During an ordinary day in Hundred Acre Woods, Winnie the Pooh sets out to find some honey. Misinterpreting a note from Christopher Robin, Owl convinces Tigger, Rabbit, Piglet, Pooh, Kanga, Roo, and Eeyore that a creature named “Backson” has captured their young friend and they set out to save him. That is the plot to the beloved story of the Winnie the Pooh. Winnie the Pooh, like many other childhood stories such as Rugrats and Little Mermaid, have subliminal messages hidden within them that ranges from psychological disordered of the characters to sexual innuendos.

When we were children we saw past the subliminal messaging but at we get older we look at the cartoons we treasured and realized just how many funny yet disturbing hidden messages there were. Today, we are going to talk about what subliminal messaging it, the many examples of it, and how it impacts society and us. So to get started we need to discuss what it means. Subliminal messages are images, words, or sounds that appear in television, radio, ads, or music that is usually ignored by the conscious brain and goes beyond the level of conscious perception.

The idea of these messages has been around since the 19th century but by the 20th century the use of these messages in ads was considered standard fare. Usually it was a visual message where something would pop up on screen for a fraction of a second that would subconsciously convince the viewer to act in a certain way. People became afraid that subliminal messages could be used to brainwash themselves and by the 1970s the US Federal Communication Commission banned the use of subliminal messages in advertisements.

The ban, however, was only for advertisements and it did not affect the world of film or music. There have been many debates whether subliminal messaging actually works and it has a lot to do with how you interpret things. Cartoons have always had subliminal messages implanted in them and we are bringing some of these messages to light. One example that has hidden subliminal messages in its characters is Winnie the Pooh. All of the characters have psychological disorders. An eating disorder, according to

Mayo Clinic, is a serious condition in which you’re so preoccupied with food and weight that you can often focus on little else and can cause serious physical problems. Does this sound like Pooh Bear to anyone? Pooh is constantly eating honey and whenever he is out he looks for more. Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a disorder that characterized by thoughts and fears that lead you do repetitive behaviors. That sounds like Rabbit who would always worry about how things looked and would go back and back again to make sure it was neat and in order and Rabbit would totally freak if anything were not in its place.

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) includes a combination of problems, such as difficulty sustaining attention, hyperactivity and impulsive behavior. Tiger cannot sit still and it always bouncing around. He is always distracted and just don’t really care about anything. Piglet has generalized anxiety disorder; he’s a wimp and is always scared, his fears result in him being anxious about everything. Owl has narcissistic personality disorder and he is excessively preoccupied with himself. Owl believes that he is the cleverest animal in the wood, boasting how he has brains whilst “the others have fluff”.

And I think the most obvious is Eeyore who has major depression which is a mental state characterized by a sad and gloomy feeling surrounding them and a lack of activity. I hope no explanation is needed for how this relates to Eeyore. And the last character is a bit of a grey around, it is said that Christopher Robins has schizophrenia because he talk to animal and they actually talk about and have distinctive personalities. But it could also be that he has an over imagination like many other children. And that was one examples of hidden messaging. And now Adam will talk about other examples.