Editing Hidden message

{{short description|Information that is not noticeable}}
{{About|coded text|text the same color as the background|Hidden text}}
{{multiple issues|{{more citations needed|date=February 2009}}
{{broaden|date=October 2016}}}}

A '''hidden message''' is information that is not immediately noticeable, and that must be discovered or uncovered and interpreted before it can be known. Hidden messages include backwards audio messages, hidden visual messages and symbolic or [[:wikt:cryptic|cryptic]] codes such as a [[Cryptic crossword|crossword]] or [[Encryption|cipher]]. Although there are many legitimate examples of hidden messages created with techniques such as [[backmasking]] and [[steganography]], many so-called hidden messages are merely [[Pareidolia|fanciful imaginings]] or [[apophany]].

== Description ==
The information in hidden messages is not immediately noticeable; it must be discovered or uncovered, and interpreted before it can be known. Hidden messages include [[Backmasking|backwards audio messages]], hidden visual messages, and [[symbol]]ic or [[:wikt:cryptic|cryptic]] [[code]]s such as a [[Cryptic crossword|crossword]] or [[Encryption|cipher]]. There are many legitimate examples of hidden messages, though many are imaginings.

== Backward audio messages ==
A backward message in an audio recording is only fully apparent when the recording is played reversed. Some backward messages are produced by deliberate [[backmasking]], while others are simply [[phonetic reversal]]s resulting from random combinations of words. Backward messages may occur in various mediums, including music, [[video game]]s, [[music video]]s, [[movies]], and [[television show]]s.

=== Backmasking ===
{{Main|Backmasking}}
Backmasking is a [[sound recording and reproduction|recording]] technique in which a message is recorded backwards onto a track that is meant to be played forwards. It was popularized by [[The Beatles]], who used backward vocals and instrumentation on their 1966 album ''[[Revolver (Beatles album)|Revolver]].'' The technique has also been used to censor words or phrases for "clean" releases of songs{{Citation needed|date=April 2008}}.

Backmasking has been a controversial topic in the United States since the 1980s, when allegations of its use for Satanic purposes were made against prominent [[rock music]]ians, leading to [[Book burning|record-burnings]] and proposed anti-backmasking legislation by state and federal governments. In debate are both the existence of backmasked Satanic messages and their purported ability to subliminally affect listeners.{{Citation needed|date=October 2016}}

=== Phonetic reversal ===
{{Main|Phonetic reversal}}

Certain phrases produce a different phrase when their [[phoneme]]s are reversed—a process known as phonetic reversal. For example, "Kiss" backwards sounds like "sick", and so the title of [[Yoko Ono]]'s "[[Kiss Kiss Kiss (Yoko Ono song)|Kiss Kiss Kiss]]" sounds like "Sick Sick Sick" or "Six Six Six" backwards. [[Queen (band)|Queen]]'s "[[Another One Bites the Dust]]"<ref name=":0" /> backwards was claimed that the chorus, when played in reverse, can be heard as "It's fun to smoke marijuana"<ref>{{cite journal|first1= N. |last1= Epley |first2= B. |last2= Keysar |first3= L. |last3= Van Boven |first4= T. |last4= Gilovich |title= Perspective Taking as Egocentric Anchoring and Adjustment |journal= Journal of Personality and Social Psychology |volume= 87 |issue= 3 |pages= 327–339 |year= 2004 |pmid= 15382983 |doi= 10.1037/0022-3514.87.3.327|s2cid= 18087684 }}</ref><ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=http://dangerousminds.net/comments/its_fun_to_smoke_dust_satanic_panic_preacher_gets_mashed-up_with_queen|title= It's Fun To Smoke Dust! Satanic Panic Preacher Gets Mashed-Up With Queen|first=Christopher|last=Bickel|publisher=Dangerous Minds|date=January 20, 2017|access-date=May 1, 2017}}</ref> or "start to smoke marijuana".<ref>{{cite book|first= Arthur |last= Goldstuck |title= The Rabbit in the Thorn Tree: Modern Myths and Urban Legends of South Africa |year= 1991 |page= 87 |publisher= Penguin Group |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=3ZTfAAAAMAAJ |isbn= 0140148078}}</ref> The [[Paul is dead]] phenomenon was started in part because a phonetic reversal of "Number nine" (the words were constantly repeated in ''[[Revolution 9]])'' was interpreted as "Turn me on, dead man".

According to proponents of [[reverse speech]], phonetic reversal occurs unknowingly during normal speech.

== Visual messages ==
[[File:Hidden message AI illusion.png|thumb|The word "FAKE" hidden within an AI-generated image of a naval battle]]
Hidden messages can be created in visual mediums with techniques such as [[hidden text|hidden computer text]] and [[steganography]].

In the 1980s, Coca-Cola released in South Australia an advertising poster featuring the reintroduced contour bottle, with a speech bubble, "Feel the Curves!!" An image hidden inside one of the ice cubes depicted an oral sex act.<ref name="snopes">{{cite web|url=http://www.snopes.com/cokelore/poster.asp|title=Risque Coca-Cola Poster|publisher=Snopes|date=14 May 2011|access-date=31 May 2011}}</ref> Thousands of posters were distributed to hotels and bottle shops in Australia before the mistake was discovered by Coca-Cola management. The artist of the poster was fired and all the posters were recalled.<ref name="snopes" /> Rival [[PepsiCo]] had a similar accusation in 1990 when their promotional [[Pepsi Cool Cans]] was accused of having the word "sex" hidden in their design if two of their cans were placed atop each other.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://buffalonews.com/1990/07/12/sex-seen-on-pepsi-cans/|title = 'Sex' Seen on Pepsi Cans| date=12 July 1990 }}</ref>

Various other messages have been claimed to exist in Disney movies, some of them risque, such as the well-known allegation of an erection showing on a priest in ''[[The Little Mermaid (1989 film)|The Little Mermaid]]''.<ref>[https://archive.today/20120912141634/http://www.snopes.com/disney/films/films.asp Urban Legends Reference Pages: Disney (Disney Films)<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> According to the Snopes website, one image "is clearly true [and] undeniably purposely inserted into the movie": a topless woman in two frames of ''[[The Rescuers]]''.<ref>[http://www.snopes.com/disney/films/rescuers.htm 'The Rescuers' Topless Scene : snopes.com<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

[[PETA]] (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) had an antipathy towards [[PETCO]], a pet food retailer in San Diego, regarding the purported mistreatment of live animals at their stores. When the [[San Diego Padres]] baseball team announced that the retailer had purchased [[naming rights]] to [[Petco Park]], PETA was unable to persuade the sports team to terminate the agreement. Later, PETA successfully purchased a commemorative display brick with what appears to be a complimentary message: "Break Open Your Cold Ones! Toast The Padres! Enjoy This Championship Organization!" However, if one takes the first letters of each word, the resulting [[acrostic]] reads "BOYCOTT PETCO". Neither PETCO nor the Padres have taken any action to remove the brick, stating that if someone walked by, they would not know it had anything to do with the PETA/PETCO feud.<ref>[https://www.espn.com/espn/sportsbusiness/news/story?id=1783769 Rovell, Darren "Secret Message Makes it Into New Park" ESPN.com 4/16/2004]</ref>

Secretive design language is widely used on web sites as [[Easter_egg_(media)|Easter egg]]s or within products as hidden features, such as [[In-N-Out Burger]]'s secret menu or the new [[Norwegian passport]] design for security.<ref name="Mashable Business">{{cite web|url=https://mashable.com/2015/08/06/hidden-subliminal-design/#YHFRACfubaqc|title=How subliminal and hidden design messages can boost brand engagement|publisher=Mashable|date=5 August 2015|access-date=21 May 2019}}</ref>

== See also ==
*[[Apophenia]]
*[[Pareidolia]]
*[[Synchronicity]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== External links ==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060821143244/http://www.triplo.com/ev/reversal/ Audio Reversal in Popular Culture] — explanation of backmasking and phonetic reversals
* [https://www.shoosh.io/ SHOOSH An easy tool to make an hidden message] — visual messages can be hidden in images.
* [https://mashable.com/2015/08/06/hidden-subliminal-design/#YHFRACfubaqc Hidden subliminal design]
*[https://secretmessagelink.com secret message link]

{{Hidden messages}}

[[Category:Audio engineering]]
[[Category:Perception]]
[[Category:Popular music]]

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