How Long Is “Programming the Nation?”

Join documentary filmmaker Jeff Warrick as he takes an illuminating look at subliminal advertising in mass media and explores its potential effects on our collective consciousness. Some researchers claim that since the 1950s, Hollywood filmmakers and television producers have been barraging the general public with suggestive imagery that -- while often too subtle to be noticed by the naked eye -- may have the power to sway our opinions, fuel bad habits, and even alter the very foundation of our personalities. Others claim that the "War on Terror" itself -- with its convenient color-coded threat indicators -- is a sweeping, subliminal campaign to ramp up paranoia and fear both at home in the U.S. and abroad. Even such rock & roll bands and musicians as Judas Priest and Led Zeppelin have stood accused of using backward masking in music to drive teens to suicide or to commit other reprehensible acts. Is there any truth to these bold, sometimes shocking, accusations? In-depth conversations with media experts and others aim to get us thinking about the array of images that we see on a daily basis -- and their true purpose.