Wilson Bryan Key

Wilson Bryan Key (January 31, 1925 – October 8, 2008) was an American writer. He was the author of several books about subliminal messages and subliminal advertising.

Career Key obtained his doctorate in communications from the University of Denver and taught journalism for a short period of time at the University of Western Ontario. He was a colleague and friend of Marshall McLuhan.

A US court case in 1990 accused the English Heavy Metal Band Judas Priest of causing suicide through subliminal messaging. Key advised the plaintiff's lawyer to hire Bill Nickloff, an audio engineer, to find the subliminal messaging. The judge found that the defendant was not responsible for the deaths.

Death Key died following complications resulting from surgery. He is interred at the Northern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Fernley, Nevada.

Criticism His results and conclusions have been challenged, in books including the following:

Reprinted in Encounters with the Paranormal: Science, Knowledge, and Belief, edited by Kendrick Frazier, Prometheus Books, 1998, 253–263. Reprinted in Encounters with the Paranormal: Science, Knowledge, and Belief, edited by Kendrick Frazier, Prometheus Books, 1998, 240–252.