Counting Sheep or Counting Coors
Though it sounds like science described in a dystopian Orwell novel, the next target for advertisers is consumer’s dreams. Moutinho (2021) notes that companies such as Xbox and Burger King have already teamed up with dream researchers to engineer techniques that will lead consumers to envision their products as they sleep.[1]
One of the most famous experiments to-date was conducted by Coors Brewing Company In 2021. Protocol involved participants watching an advertisement featuring their product, along with waterfalls and mountains, three times before falling asleep; an 8-hour soundscape played while they slept.[2,3] The ultimate goal of the campaign was to compel over 100 million viewers to dream of Coors the night before the Superbowl, and incentives were provided to share the commercial with a friend to receive either a discounted or free twelve-pack.[4] The limited published results of the Coors experiment, which consisted of 18 participants, resulted in five people who dreamt about Coors products.[5] While only 28% of respondents acted as Coors intended, the stage was set to refine the work to garner a higher payout.
Burger King similarly launched a campaign in 2018 when the company teamed up with Florida Sleep & Neuro Diagnostic Services, Inc. Together, they produced the “Nightmare King'' burger for Halloween which included a “ghoulish green” bun and could be accompanied by a frozen black Fanta called, “Scary Black Cherry.”[6] Researchers found this burger increased the incidence of nightmares 3.5 times [7] with one participant reporting dreaming about a person turning into a burger and then a giant snake.[8]
Research aimed at advertising in dreams is not unique to these two companies. In 2021, a study by the American Marketing Association found that of 400 marketers surveyed, 77% planned to utilize dream-marketing techniques within three years.[9] Robert Stickgold, a Harvard neuroscientist, has warned the public, “They are coming for your dreams, and most people don’t even know they can do it.”[10]
While this may seem to many to be an invasion of privacy, there are currently no regulations addressing advertisements in dreams.[11] Researchers have warned that companies could potentially use the smart speakers that 40 million Americans currently have in their bedrooms to monitor the state of a person’s sleep and then passively advertise to them during dreams without permission.[12] The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which currently restricts some forms of subliminal advertising, could pass regulations preventing this practice, but so far, they have not done so.[13]
Why do people dream?
Throughout recorded history, humans have often struggled to understand the purpose of dreams and theories have changed throughout history and across cultures. The belief of dreams as methods of prediction was common in ancient times, with the Greeks believing they were portals that could be used to see the future and the Romans believing they were messages sent by the Gods.[14] Similarly, records dating back as early as 1046 BC show oneiromancy (the process of interpreting dreams to foretell future events) was regularly used in ancient China.[15]
By the eighteenth-century, the prominent Western belief went to the extreme of denouncing dreams as a mental derangement which interrupted sleep,[16] but this notion was soon replaced with the Freudian notion that dreams were a method of fulfilling repressed desires.[17] This led to a shift in the post-Freudian era with the idea that dreaming is essential to a person’s well-being.[18]
The past decade has shown significant progress in using technology to understand the science of sleep, but the purpose of dreams is still debated.[19] Modern psychology tends to have two prominent theories of why people dream: one believes that dreams are simply a byproduct of the process of sleeping and the other believes that dreams are revealing hidden information.[20] There is also the thought that dreams are a continuation of waking thoughts and can be used to solve problems in real life.[21] However, scientists are still conducting research and new theories on the purpose of dreams continue to be proposed.
One recent explanation, known as “null theory,” suggests dreams are an evolutionary process that prevent human beings from being physically active while they rest at night.[22] In contrast, Hobson’s theory of protoconsciosness compares the brain in the state of REM sleep to a virtual reality generator using instances of real-world interactions to create possible predictions of time and space.[23] Another proposed theory on the purpose of dreams is the Synaptic Homeostasis Hypothesis (SHH), which postulates that during the day new learning can cause a saturation of synaptic weight, which needs to be downscaled during sleep to avoid learning saturation.[24] Evidence also suggests that it is while dreaming that the brain organizes memories, determining what information to keep, what can be forgotten, and how much detail to remember.[25]
Though dreaming was previously believed to only occur during REM sleep, recent experiments have shown it can actually take place across different sleep stages.[26] This raises another question as to whether dreams may have different purposes during different stages of the sleeping process.[27]
Despite the debate of what dreams are, there is a general notion that breakthroughs to problems can be found in dreams. Both modern scientists and mathematicians have reported struggling to find answers during the day, only to have the answer later revealed in their dreaming state.[28] Clinicians who treat those with terminal illness often view dreaming as an intrinsic part of the process of dying in which patients can gain new insight, create plans to resolve unfinished business, change to a new way of thinking, and address concerns about the legacy they are leaving behind.[29]
In the waking world, recalled dreams can be used as a catalyst for creative projects, shared with others to increase intimacy, or analyzed in a therapy session to address concerns.[30] The cognitive-experiential model of dreamwork is based on the premise that a sleeping mind attempts to integrate experiences from the waking world into preexisting beliefs and memories of past experiences.[31] In this process, a therapist takes the client through “exploration” (a retelling of what was dreamt), “insight” (a method of finding interpretations, connections or meaning in the dream), and “action” (the stage where a person makes a plan based on the insight provided by the dream).[32]
Can the experience of dreams be influenced?
Dream incubation (using a technique to cause a specific dream to occur) dates back thousands of years with the earliest reference found on the Chester Beatty papyri, dating back to Egypt in 1350 BC.[33] The illustration showed a method of evoking the wisdom of the dwarf deity Besa by drawing on the hand and then covering the hand and neck prior to sleep.[34] In ancient Greece, ailing people engaged in a practice of sacred rituals and then slept in oracular temples waiting for the god of medicine, Asclepius, to reveal the cure through a dream.[35] More recently, it is believed that the artist Salvador Dali tried to enhance creativity by falling asleep with a spoon in his hand, so that the noise of it falling would wake him up and allow him to remember when he had just been dreaming.[36]
Researchers are currently testing multiple methods of influencing the dream process. One practice of manipulating dreams to achieve a specific goal is called Targeted Dream Incubation (TDI).[37] It works by pairing a visual image with a sound or scent while a person is awake and emitting the sound or scent while a person is drifting off to sleep to trigger a memory of the item.[38] Another technique is a process called Targeted Memory Reactivation (TMR), which uses unobtrusive tools, such as audible words, to stimulate thoughts within the brain.[39] There have also been studies incorporating the Tetris Effect, the notion that people will begin dreaming about something they are repeatedly exposed to during the day; a phenomenon that was observed when participants who played Tetris for seven hours a day over three days reported seeing visions of playing the game as they fell asleep.[40,41]
Can influencing dreams be beneficial?
Dream manipulation may have positive impacts, and researchers have been actively developing dream incubation techniques to help people achieve their goals in the modern world. Ai et al., (2018) notes that targeted Memory Reactivation (TMR) has previously been used successfully to learn vocabulary, overcome fears, reduce social bias, and improve motor memory.[42] Delbert (2021) adds that Targeted Dream Incubation (TDI) can also be used to minimize addictive behavior, as illustrated by a study that exposed sleeping participants to the smell of rotten eggs and cigarettes, creating an association among the two that resulted in participants smoking 30% less in the following days.[43] In another example, researchers at MIT developed an interactive social robot, named Dormio, that can track a human’s sleep patterns and interact with hypnagogic microdreams with the goal of increasing creativity.[44]
The impact of advertising in dreams
There is a predominant understanding that dreaming is essential for a person to function and that not dreaming at all, or damaged dreaming, can lead to memory loss, inflammation, obesity, Alzheimer’s disease, anxiety, and depression.[45] It has also recently come to light that lucid dreaming (the practice of knowing one is dreaming while asleep), a process that may be beneficial, can be associated with the risk of disruptions in both the quality of sleep and the reality/fantasy boundary.[46] Carr et al., (2020) note this leads to a concern as to whether manipulating dreams, even if it is for a benefit perceived to be positive, could cause damage by interrupting the natural therapeutic process that takes place in a normal state of dreaming.[47]
Since the science of advertising in dreams is still being developed, the consequences are currently unknown; however, those who work in the field of dream research are showing concern. In response to the new application of advertising in dreams, 35 dream and sleep researchers contributed to an open letter warning of the potential consequences.[48] The letter warns that though altering dreams can have beneficial applications, such as boosting a person’s mood or alleviating the symptoms of PTSD, it could also be used to increase addiction (e.g.; Coors association of alcohol with flowing waterfalls).[49]
Some scientists involved with research in this field have also drafted A Dream Engineering Ethic (a living document still in development) which proposes guidelines for any dream research that targets the manipulation of memories, changing the substance of dreams, and altering specific habits.[50] This statement emphasizes the potential benefits of dream engineering (enhanced learning, therapeutic benefits, addiction treatment, enhanced creativity, and nightmare abatement) while simultaneously warning about the perils of, “the infiltration of our most private spaces by those who wish to harm or manipulate us.”[51]
Madhavi et al., (2019) notes that human beings tend to give more value to thoughts perceived to be generated from within, than those that can be attributed to external stimuli.[52] While the potential for a positive impact of dream manipulation exists, dream researchers are concerned that less desirable outcomes, such as influencing a person’s political views or sexual attraction, are possible.[53] The nature of dream manipulation requires that a person be unaware of the stimuli presented, since the person should not be awakened, which poses the problem of the subject having no control over the exposure.[54] With the potential power that suggestibility during sleep can have in a person’s daily decisions, questions arise as to how much of a human’s personality can be altered through this process. Since people often consider preferences for particular food, shows, activities, and hobbies as part of their individual identity, the question is then raised as to whether a company’s manipulation of these choices during the process of dreaming can alter the essential thoughts that make a person who they are.
Contributed by: Theresa Nair
Editor: Jennifer (Ghahari) Smith, Ph.D.
REFERENCES
1 Moutinho S. Are advertisers coming for your dreams?: Scientists warn of efforts to insert commercials into dreams. Science Web site. https://www.science.org/content/article/are-advertisers-coming-your-dreams. Updated 2021. Accessed Oct 24, 2022.
2 Ibid.
3 Orsini J, Rice D. Sweet dreams or nightmares: The future of advertising in dreams. Future of Marketing Institute (FMI) Web site. https://futureofmarketinginstitute.com/sweet-dreams-or-nightmares-the-future-of-advertising-in-dreams/. Updated 2021. Accessed Oct 25, 2022.
4 Stickgold R, Zadra A, Haar A. Advertising in dreams is coming: Now what?:An opinion piece on recent developments in dream incubation technologies and their ethical implications. Dream Engineering|PubPub Web site. https://dxe.pubpub.org/pub/dreamadvertising/release/1. Updated 2021.
5 Moutinho (2021)
6 Handley L. Burger king creates 'nightmare' burger with green bun — and says it will actually give people bad dreams. CNBC Web site. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/18/burger-king-creates-nightmare-burger-with-green-bun.html. Updated 2018. Accessed Nov 4, 2022.
7 Reiter A. Burger king says new burger is ‘Clinically proven to induce nightmares’. Food Network Web site. https://www.foodnetwork.com/fn-dish/news/2018/10/burger-king-says-new-burger-is-clinically-proven-to-induce-night. Updated 2018. Accessed Oct 27, 2022.
8 Ibid.
9 Orsini & Rice (2021)
10 Moutinho (2021)
11 Ibid.
12 Stickgold et al. (2021)
13 Gabbatt A. Nightmare scenario: Alarm as advertisers seek to plug into our dreams. The Guardian Web site. http://www.theguardian.com/media/2021/jul/05/advertisers-targeted-dream-incubation. Updated 2021. Accessed Oct 25, 2022.
14 Rani S. Interpretation of dreams: Finding meaning and purpose. Indian journal of health and wellbeing. 2013;4(2):406-.
15 Yu CKC. Imperial dreams and oneiromancy in ancient China—we share similar dream motifs with our ancestors living two millennia ago. Dreaming (New York, NY). Published online 2022. doi:10.1037/drm0000195
16 Dacome L. “To What Purpose Does It Think?”: Dreams, Sick Bodies and Confused Minds in the Age of Reason. History of psychiatry. 2004;15(4):395-416. doi:10.1177/0957154X04041644
17 Rani (2013)
18 Dacome (2004)
19 Hoel E. The overfitted brain: Dreams evolved to assist generalization. Patterns (New York, NY). 2021;2(5):100244-100244. doi:10.1016/j.patter.2021.100244
20 Mahdavi M, Fatehi Rad N, Barbosa B. The Role of Dreams of Ads in Purchase Intention. Dreaming (New York, NY). 2019;29(3):241-252. doi:10.1037/drm0000110
21 Rani (2013)
22 Hoel (2021)
23 Carr M, Haar A, Amores J, et al. Dream engineering: Simulating worlds through sensory stimulation. Consciousness and Cognition. 2020;83. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053810020300325. doi: 10.1016/j.concog.2020.102955.
24 Hoel (2021)
25 Stickgold et al. (2021)
26 Hoel (2021)
27 Ibid.
28 Barrett D. ANSWERS IN YOUR DREAMS. Scientific American mind. 2011;22(5):26-33. doi:10.1038/scientificamericanmind1111-26
29 Wright ST, Grant PC, Depner RM, Donnelly JP, Kerr CW. Meaning-centered dream work with hospice patients: A pilot study. Palliative & supportive care. 2015;13(5):1193-1211. doi:10.1017/S1478951514001072
30 Olsen MR, Schredl M, Carlsson I. Sharing Dreams: Frequency, Motivations, and Relationship Intimacy. Dreaming (New York, NY). 2013;23(4):245-255. doi:10.1037/a0033392
31 Wright et al. (2015)
32 Ibid.
33 Carr et al. (2020)
34 Ibid.
35 Dream - psychoanalytic interpretations | britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/dream-sleep-experience/Dreams-as-a-source-of-divination. Accessed Nov 2, 2022.
36 Gabbatt (2021)
37 Crockett Z. Are advertisers going to infiltrate our dreams? The Hustle Web site. https://thehustle.co/are-advertisers-going-to-infiltrate-our-dreams/. Updated 2022. Accessed Oct 25, 2022.
38 Ibid.
39 Ai S, Yin Y, Chen Y, et al. Promoting subjective preferences in simple economic choices during nap. eLife. 2018;7:e40583. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.40583. Accessed Oct 29, 2022. doi: 10.7554/eLife.40583.
40 Haar Horowitz A, Stickgold R, Zadra A. Dreams are a precious resource. don’t let advertisers hack them | aeon essays. Aeon Web site. https://aeon.co/essays/dreams-are-a-precious-resource-dont-let-advertisers-hack-them. Updated 2021. Accessed Oct 29, 2022.
41 Stickgold R, Malia A, Maguire D, Roddenberry D, O’Connor M. Replaying the Game: Hypnagogic Images in Normals and Amnesics. Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science). 2000;290(5490):350-353. doi:10.1126/science.290.5490.350
42 Ai et al. (2018)
43 Delbert C. Advertisers are hijacking your dreams, scientists say. Popular Mechanics Web site. https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/a36719140/sleep-ads-dream-implantation/. Updated 2021. Accessed Oct 25, 2022.
44 Haar A. Project overview ‹ dormio: Interfacing with dreams. MIT Media Lab Web site. https://www.media.mit.edu/projects/sleep-creativity/overview/. Accessed Oct 31, 2022.
45 Erickson A. Dream deprivation is just as unhealthy as sleep Deprivation—Here’s why. . 2021. https://www.thehealthy.com/sleep/dream-sleep-deprivation/. Accessed Oct 31, 2022.
46 Soffer-Dudek N. Are Lucid Dreams Good for Us? Are We Asking the Right Question? A Call for Caution in Lucid Dream Research. Frontiers in neuroscience. 2019;13:1423-1423. doi:10.3389/fnins.2019.01423
47 Carr et al. (2020)
48 Gabbatt (2021)
49 Stickgold et al. (2021)
50 Haar A, Maes P, Carr M. A dream engineering ethic. Infinite Zero Web site. https://00.pubpub.org/pub/83843x5m/release/1. Updated 2020. Accessed Oct 31, 2022.
51 Ibid.
52 Madhavi et al. (2019)
53 Carr et al. (2020)
54 Ibid.
