The Abuse of Psychology and Marketing: How to Send Propaganda Subconsciously

Hello. I am Kinny, a researcher of the unconscious.

I became interested in the unconscious and have been researching it for about seven years. I started to get curious about it after I got into free climbing. The free climbing industry has a truly incredible disconnect between what is said and what is actually meant. There is also a sense that you are not supposed to explain it. It feels like, 'Hey, don't you dare spill the secrets.'

Please look at the next photo.

This female climber is clearly tackling an extremely difficult climb, no matter how you look at it.

And the fact that this photo was chosen means it is being featured as an icon of coolness and attractiveness.

This is the FB page of an American magazine called 'Climbing'.

Speaking of America, it is a developed country for stealth marketing. It is a country where even large corporations calmly manipulate people's minds through marketing to rake in huge sums of money.

Edward Bernays is known as a psychologist who abused psychology for business.

The career of Edward Bernays

When I see men who can't let go of cigarettes, I am reminded of a toddler's pacifier. Well, major chains like Coca-Cola, McDonald's, and KFC have all worked hard in their commercials to link their products with some kind of positive philosophy.

Now, returning to this climbing propaganda, the message attached to this climbing image is...

No One Cares What Grade You Climb—And Neither Should You

'No one cares what grade you climb—and you shouldn't either.'

It says that, but if you send this message as a set with this image, no one will act according to this message.

This is because in psychology, it is established as common knowledge that non-verbal messages are more powerful than verbal messages.

What a man thinks when he sees this female climber is

Even a woman is doing such difficult climbing...

That is it. So, what follows after that?

Usually, it is, 'And yet, I am...'. It is comparison.
If it becomes, 'Therefore, I will too'...?

1. Common Sense in Psychology: The Superiority of Non-Verbal Messages

In communication,visual information (non-verbal) appeals to the brain more instantly and emotionally than verbal information (words).

• Verbal message (the facade): 'The grade doesn't matter. The fun is what's important.' → Message to the conscious mind (portrayal of a liberal and healthy climbing culture)

• Non-verbal message (the real intention): 'This difficult climbing is the very symbol of "coolness".' → Message to the subconscious (re-reinforcement of the established concept thatdifficulty = value)

Cognitive Dissonance = Strong Impression

This double message makes the reader feel a contradiction, and it triggers"Cognitive Dissonance".

The mind tries to understand that 'you don't need to worry about the grade,' but the intense impact of the visual in front of you—'difficult climbing = cool'—does not allow it.

It is the same as when a mother says, 'You can eat whatever you like,' while her eyes are fixed on the cheapest plain udon (lol).

If they really wanted to convey what this message says,

wouldn't they?

But that is not the case. A woman in her 70s is also climbing El Capitan, but that is not picked up.

Subconscious Mechanism: Compulsion of Comparison and Conformity

Because the video and the message contradict each other, naturally

'And yet, I am... (comparison)' and 'Therefore, I will too (conformity)'

are elicited.

This is the most powerful trigger that appeals to the subconscious of male climbers.

A. Use of Social Comparison Theory

Due to the nature of vertical challenges, climbing is an activity easily linked to masculine values such as "strength" and "dominance."

1. The non-verbal message that "even women are doing such difficult climbing" triggers a comparison of gender-based superiority/inferiority at a subconscious level.

2. A latent sense of competition—the feeling that "I must not be inferior to women"—is stimulated, creating a sense of self-denial that says, "And yet, here I am..."

3. To resolve this sense of self-denial, they are driven toward the behavior non-verbally suggested by magazines—the pursuit of grades—which is ( "So, I should do it too." ).

Maintaining Culture Through Authority

By pretending to be kind and saying, "You don't need to worry about grades," this magazine protects the very culture of pursuing high grades from criticism.

A) If they said, "Pursue high grades" directly, there would be a backlash.

B) However, when presented in the form of, "You don't have to pursue them, but look, this is the ideal," the reader feels that even though they have the "freedom to choose not to pursue them," they end up feeling that they "must pursue them" due to subconscious comparison and the desire for approval.

This is a clever Bernaysian strategy that maintains a culture that "glorifies daredevils as a virtue" and keeps the market for climbing gear and training-related products spinning.

No matter how you look at it, it can only be intentional.

It is a strategy using inconsistent advertising, isn't it?

This is how people who are easily deceived end up gathering in the climbing community.

In reality, climbing is done while secured by a rope, and if that security is reliable, there is not as much risk as the general public thinks. It is the same as bungee jumping. Even if you fall, you just bounce back.

However, if there is a disregard for the rope, the premise that "you just bounce back if you fall" collapses, and the risk instantly becomes 100%.

Rather than worrying about grades, worrying about your belayer is the normal propaganda and the sound argument for healthy climbing.

The magazine won't say that, but they will say not to worry about grades. That is where their true intentions are revealed.

They turn a blind eye to the essential things while emphasizing the trivialities like grades.

Using Bernays' methods, how can one promote the reality of true intentions?

Non-verbal messages (Manipulation of visuals and emotions)

• Visuals:

  • Photo: Combine a climber scaling an extreme, difficult section (challenge) with a close-up of the belayer below, holding the belay device with a calm yet serious expression.

  • Color tone: While emphasizing the climber's challenge, cast gentle blue or green (stability, trust) light around the belayer.

  • Composition: Frequently use compositions that emphasize the belayer's hands and the rope (lifeline) extending from the belayer, showing that their presence is an immovable foundation.

• Symbol manipulation:

  • Portray the belayer not as a 'supervisor,' but as the 'Master of the Rope who secretly supports the climber's success'.

2. Verbal messages (Catchphrases and 'Engineering of Consent')

Replace the climber's 'desire for strength' with 'becoming a reliable belayer'.

Behavioral guidance (Continuous habituation)

• Awareness activities: Brand the 'Safety Belay Checklist' as the 'Ultimate Climber's Ritual,' and embed the message that failing to perform it means 'neglecting the ritual of success'.

• Community Building: Popularize badges and stickers that say "I am a reliable belayer," and elevate safety-conscious belayers as heroes within the community. By doing this, make safety consciousness a "status symbol for belonging.", make safety consciousness a "status symbol for belonging."

Through this strategy, readers will subconsciously come to recognize that improving belay reliability is the path to being respected and achieving true success in the climbing community, rather than "increasing your grade."

This photo isn't great for this kind of marketing because the ice is thin, but since it was early in the season, this is all that was frozen in Yatsugatake in mid-December, so it's still not cold enough... Sorry.

However, what I wanted to say is that climbers are being danced around by marketing.

Humanity has been danced around by cigarettes, sugar, and even war, hasn't it?

The saying "The dancer is a fool, the watcher is a fool, if you don't dance you're a loser" only applies to the Awa Odori dance. When you are threatened by grades, fun climbing becomes an endless activity of "there's always something higher" or "there's always something further" just to chase grades, turning it into an activity that lowers the self-esteem of 99.99999% of people.

That's why 5.7 or 5.8 routes don't get rebolted; the ones that get rebolted are 5.12 and up.

Public stance: No One Cares What Grade You Climb.
True intention: Everyone Cares How You Belay.

Public stance: (Silent message) Be a daredevil.
True intention: Trust isn't Given. It is Belayed.

Public stance: (Silent message) Deny your weak self.
True intention: The Master of the Rope is the Master of the Climb.

That is all.

Ah, I've been driven by my trait of being sensitive to Type 1 deception again. Well, I'll just say it's fine for today.