Dream Advertising: Ethical Concerns and the Battle for Dream Privacy

Of particular concern, they wrote, was an ad campaign by Molson Coors before this year's Super Bowl, which promised free beer in exchange for participation in a "dream incubation" study involving a video with dancing beer cans and talking fish and pop star Zayn Malik.

• Interestingly, the scientists pointed out, that Coors used the phrase "targeted dream incubation," a term coined by two of the three in a 2020 paper, meaning that advertisers are indeed keeping an eye on academic work on dream hacking.
• Targeted dream incubation (TDI) aims to understand dream experiences and improve sleep quality.

• Scientists study sleep and dreams for a range of reasons, including understanding sleep-dependent memory processing and emotion regulation, studying the impact of dreaming on learning and treating dream-related symptoms.
• They penned an open letter earlier this year that slammed advertisers trying to hack dreams. Forty other scientists signed the document.
• The writers also argued that the Federal Trade Commission, which regulates advertising in the US, should update rules against subliminal messages in advertising to ban dream hacking. 

• Commercial exploitation of people’s sleep is cause for concern. Super Bowl XL saw Molson Coors attempt to use TDI to sell beer by placing images of their product into people's dreams.
• There's been little public outcry over the idea of dreams being infiltrated by corporate advertisers.

• Today, smart devices by companies like Amazon, Apple, and Google are monitoring our sleep.
• These technologies could soon serve as an overnight advertising medium, collecting data and potentially manipulating our subconscious.
• An imagined future could see advertisements tailored based on our sleep habits.

• Advertising during sleep could change behavior, even in participants who remember little or nothing of their dreams.
• Research has shown meaningful changes in behavior from stimuli presented during sleep, presenting concern around dream hacking undermining our sense of self and memory formation.

• Targeted dream incubation also has its exciting aspects. It can facilitate creativity, especially from dreams during the sleep-onset period.
• Artists and creatives can leverage this to gain inspiration, exemplified by Salvador Dali’s technique of 'slumber with a key'.

• TDI has potential therapeutic uses too; it could be beneficial for sufferers of PTSD and nightmares.
• But it can also be used for less noble purposes.
• The close links between the study of dreams and the advertising industry have grown over the years and might soon pervade our sleep.

• Striking a balance between beneficial and harmful uses of sleep and dream tech is challenging.
• Public discussions and policies regarding these issues should be fostered.
• Some sleep and dream researchers have already taken steps towards this, proposing dream engineering ethics to guide future research.

• Our dreams are delightful wanderings of our subconscious, but imagine having your dreams exploited by marketers.
• Bespoke multimodal sensory stimuli delivered during sleep can shape our behaviors beyond our cognitive awareness.
• This can have profound implications on our daytime desires, preferences, and decisions.

• Sigmund Freud's nephew, Edward Bernays, pioneered the use of psychoanalysis in advertising, crafting strategies to probe and influence unconscious desires.
• This approach brought birth to the concept of subliminal advertising.
• 'Targeted dream incubation', the modern-day version of his approach, can similarly harness unconscious desires.

• Techniques like subliminal messaging might have a weak effect on behavior, but they do exist.
• Such methods are viewed as deceptive by regulatory bodies as they circumvent a listener's awareness to influence them.
• Despite this, prohibitions have not been extended to dream incubation.

• A single sleep cycle administration of dream incubation can impact daytime behavior.
• For instance, pairing unpleasant odors with specific cues can unconsciously reduce smoking.
• This is in stark contrast to the absence of effective behavioral modifications when the same stimuli are presented while awake.

• As wearable devices become more prevalent in monitoring sleep, there's a possibility that this data could be sold for profit or used for dream manipulation.
• Companies could shape their marketing strategies based on the quality of their sleep, skirting the delicate spheres of privacy and consent.

• The field of sleep science is still evolving. Large-scale sleep-related advertising isn't fully understood, but the issue of data collection and manipulation is real.
• Once gathered, such data can be used for targeted selling, manipulation, and commercialization without the knowledge of the individual.

• While the practice of manipulating dreams raises ethical concerns, there is a flip side.
• Facilitating flying dreams, inducing lucid dreaming, and even tools for confronting fears or enhancing abilities are exciting possibilities.
• The use of technologies should be ethically guided and conscious of individual consent.

• The dream incubation practices should be regulated, arguing that dream-related advertising should be considered deceitful.
• They have championed the development of a Dream Engineering Ethic by Adam Horowitz, Pattie Maes, and Michelle Carr to frame scientific studies and ethical considerations for dream incubation.

• With every leap in scientific understanding, comes the risk of technologies being abused.
• The question remains - should marketers be allowed to collect brain data during sleep, let alone exploit it?
• We need to anticipate these scenarios and enact safeguards for our private spaces.

• Sleep science helps us understand the multifaceted processes the brain undergoes during various stages of sleep.
• However, the commercialization of these scientific advancements, especially for marketing purposes, may quickly turn science fiction into reality.
• We must protect our dreams from being manipulated by commercial entities.