Scientists Say Companies Are Already Testing Ways to Insert Ads Into Your Dreams

People often see things that they watched and heard while they were awake in their dreams. Most of the time, it is from real-life events, but sometimes, it is from our phones or screens. However, what if while you are dreaming about these things, there was a sudden pause, ads similar to the ones you see on YouTube and Facebook came on, and you can’t skip them or wake up.

Sounds like a nightmare, right? Well, scientists have actually warned us that some companies and large corporations are now beginning to test how to insert ads into our dreams.

The Rise of Targeted Dream Incubation (TDI)

Targeted Dream Incubation, or TDI, refers to the technique that scientists use to influence what we will see in our dreams. Their target is the state of humans between being awake and fully asleep. They were already able to achieve this by using stimuli before people sleep, such as video and audio clips.

A notable example includes Molson Coors’ 2021 campaign, where participants of the study were exposed to an 8-hour recording of Coors Beer commercials, resulting in approximately 30% of the participants having such dreams that featured Coors beers.

Read more: MIT | Tom’s Guide

Brands Venturing into Dream Advertising

Corporations want to put advertisements in your dreams

Major companies like Burger King, Xbox, and Coors with dream advertising. They try to influence people’s minds while they are asleep by exposing them to images or sounds that can remind them of the brand itself.

One example is Burger King’s “Nightmare King” burger, which claimed that they were able to cause nightmares in their consumers through their subconscious. These studies and examples highlight the growing trend of companies using our own dreams to promote their products and services. If the technology advances even further, we might be able to see full-on images and videos of these brands while we are dreaming.

Ethical and Regulatory Concerns

The prospect of being able to put ads in your consumer’s mind while they are asleep means they are more likely to remember you as a brand should they need to buy a product or service that you are selling. However, we have to take into account the ethical and regulatory concerns that this technique poses.

It has already sparked a debate among scientists, with many arguing that it bypasses the privacy of someone by purposely exploiting their subconscious without consent to increase brand awareness. It closely resembles manipulative behaviors that must be regulated to protect consumers from unsolicited dream-based advertisements.

Potential Therapeutic Applications

While the technique of targeted dream incubation poses a lot of risk and privacy concerns, it also opens up a new way for potential therapeutic applications. There are already studies that show how TDI can help in PTSD or post-traumatic stress disorder.

If they could manipulate dreams into advertisements, then in the case of therapy, this might help make the dream give the person a more peaceful and positive time.

It was also proven to help boost creativity and reduce addictive behaviors, for example, pairing bad odors with cigarette smoke while sleeping has been found to decrease smoking habits in participants. This is because their subconscious has learned to associate negative experiences with these habits.

The Hidden Ads You Can't See

Author's Final Thoughts

The combination of neuroscience and marketing is both scary and exciting. Because this means that if they successfully learn how to manipulate dreams into showing us products and services, then they could theoretically use it to help us move on from traumatic experiences, too, by influencing the subconscious part of the mind. As this field evolves, ethical and privacy concerns must be held at the highest priority, and we must respect individual legal rights at all costs.

Read more: Scientists Say They Successfully Created Synthetic Human Embryos Without Using Sperm or Eggs