Television: Whispering Campaign

In Seattle, radio was preparing to launch a new campaign—against TV. Inspired by TV’s experiments with subliminal perception, enterprising radio station KOL planned to use TV’s own secret-pitch technique as its weapon. This week, behind the playing of some of its 40 hit disks, KOL will murmur some insidious suggestions: “TV is a crashing bore,” “Goodness, isn’t TV dull?” and “Those TV westerns are all the same.” Planned but scissored at the last minute: “TV gives you eye cancer.” Says a KOL executive: “These jazzy little radio subliminals may not take anybody off the TV kick, but putting them on the air will be a form of public service that will make everybody feel good.”