According to Yankelovich, a market research firm in the USA, the average individual can see up to 5000 advertisements a day as compared to around 2000, 20 years ago. Everyday in South Africa we see advertisements on street poles, television, the internet, free and paid for newspapers - the list is endless. I remember reading once that for a free newspaper to succeed it needs to comprise 70% advertising and 30% news content. No wonder these papers are so full of adverts A buzzword in many media circles today is the use of "Subliminal Advertising". This is when hidden messages are embedded into an advertisement to either better reflect there logo and brand or entice customers to purchase there product.
Subliminal Messages
Subliminal messages are defined as messages or stimuli which are not perceived by the conscious mind but more by the unconscious mind. In this case, the principal of "There is more than meets the eye" is applicable.
Subliminal messages are defined as messages or stimuli which are not perceived by the conscious mind but more by the unconscious mind. In this case, the principal of "There is more than meets the eye" is applicable.
The first ever known usage of this in a commercial sense occurred in 1957 when a market researcher by the name of James Vicary inserted the words "Hungry?Eat Popcorn" and "Drink CocaCola" in a single frame of a movie. It was displayed so quickly that nobody noticed. It was then reported and subsequently confirmed to be a hoax that the sale of popcorn and Coke at these venues increased by 18.1% and 37.8% respectively. The next time a major outcry surrounding this method of advertising took place in 1999 during the US Presidential election. In a Republic party advertisement, alongside images of Vice-President Al Gore, the ad showed fragments of the slogan "Bureaucrats decide". Then for a split second the word "RATS" was flashed before the complete word "bureaucrats" appeared. Rats was also the term Col Gadaffi labeled his opponents(the people seeking democracy). He may have got it from here. Lets now see what the clever dudes say.
In 1999, a Harvard University experiment was performed where two separate groups were shown either a set of positive or negative messages in a video game. It was noted that the group shown the positive messages left the room quicker than the opposite grouping.
My own experiences in relation to this topic are labeled into 3 categories:
1. The sheer brilliant - This is where marketing teams have used nothing but sheer brilliance to bring out there brand using subliminal techniques. There is nothing sinister to them and just enhances there image in a better manner.
2. The Mischief Makers - This is were marketing officials clearly have used these techniques with a hidden meaning. In all cases, that I have seen they all relate in one way or another to a sexual theme. Ie it looks sexy so buy it, you will look sexy using it etc.
3. The Read Too Much Into'ers - The third is normally when we human beings try to read too much into a rather innocent advertisement.
Below you will find a few logos which demonstrate the above principals
In 1999, a Harvard University experiment was performed where two separate groups were shown either a set of positive or negative messages in a video game. It was noted that the group shown the positive messages left the room quicker than the opposite grouping.
My own experiences in relation to this topic are labeled into 3 categories:
1. The sheer brilliant - This is where marketing teams have used nothing but sheer brilliance to bring out there brand using subliminal techniques. There is nothing sinister to them and just enhances there image in a better manner.
2. The Mischief Makers - This is were marketing officials clearly have used these techniques with a hidden meaning. In all cases, that I have seen they all relate in one way or another to a sexual theme. Ie it looks sexy so buy it, you will look sexy using it etc.
3. The Read Too Much Into'ers - The third is normally when we human beings try to read too much into a rather innocent advertisement.
Below you will find a few logos which demonstrate the above principals
The Sheer Brilliant
Ad 1
Baskin Robbins is an international ice cream franchise selling the most delicious ice cream I have ever tasted. I have not to date seen this brand in South Africa, but I stand to be corrected. The first time I saw it was in Saudi Arabia, 2 years ago when I saw a group of South Africans taking a picture of themselves alongside this store in Makkah. I was like dude, aren't there more interesting things to take a picture of. The reply was one of "you never see this at home", "people always talk about this at home" and "It tastes the best". On the face of it appears to be a simple case of BR (Baskin Robbins), but if one were to look at the pink writing you will easily see the number 31. 31 in fact refers to the number of ice cream flavors within the Baskin Robbins stable. Very very clever logo indeed.
Ad 2
The first time I ever used the above site was when I purchased my Amazon Kindle a few years ago. Previously, to purchase anything from this store and have it shipped to South Africa would have cost an arm and a leg. The Kindle is truly an amazing device which allows you to get almost any book in the world at a very reasonable price as compared to buying the hard copy at a local book store in a matter of seconds. Many people prefer using their IPads, I am still a fan of the Kindle. On the face of it its simply amazon.com with an arrow underneath it. I never really took notice of what it means ie an arrow is an arrow, It basically means Amazon.com sells everything from A-Z and it also doubles up as a makeshift smile. Another very clever advertisement in deed.
Ad 3
The next logo, I really liked was FedEx. FedEx is an international courier company and can get your parcel to almost any part of the world as quickly as possible. I have maybe only used them once but the parcel did get to its destination in the subcontinent in perfect condition. I have seen this logo often in South Africa but never ever took note that between the E and the X is an arrow embedded in the advertisement as seen in this picture. I would presume it means, we will get your parcel to where it needs to be ASAP.
Ad 4
During the Apartheid days, South Africans did not see this chocolate in many stores. If they were , it was normally very expensive. Whenever our friends went overseas we would say, please get us some "Toblers" on your way back. "Toblers", no doubt are amongst the best chocolates to have. Now days you find them almost everywhere and are reasonably priced. When one looks at this logo it just looks like an ordinary mountain. One would logically correlate mountains with Switzerland ie the Swiss Alps. What most of us do not know is that Toblerone is made in the city of Bern " The city of bears" and if one takes a better look, you can see a bear imprinted on the mountain. This was truly amazing indeed.
Ad 5
Sony Vaio, is a laptop brand in the country. A few years ago this was the laptop to have. If you were seen with one you were normally considered the cool and sophisticated. The Sony Vaio logo is intended to represents the brand's integration of both digital and analog technology. The "VA" is designed to represent an analog waveform and the "IO" symbolizes binary code. This is another sheerly brilliant use of marketing.
The Mischief Makers
Ad 1
This for me is a perfect example of a seemingly innocent advertisement. But, when one looks at the positioning of the letter S in relation to the word Explosion. Once can easily see that it forms the word Sexplosion. It is possible that the advertisers are probably trying to associate this confectionary with feeling sexy or tasting sexy.
Ad 2
This for me is another perfect example of a seemingly innocent advertisement. When one makes reference to the word "Laid" I am sure we know what this all means. When one inverts the picture, one can easily see that the person in the advertisement is touching her private part. The advertiser was possibly trying to associate sex with laying or "getting laid"his floors.
Ad 3
This advertisement requires no additional interpretation. We can all see what this person is looking forward to putting into her mouth.
Ad 4
When I first saw this add, it seemed like just two bottles next to each other. But if one were to flip the image it reflects a persons bum. This is possibly to reflect the sexy nature of the drink and bottle.
Ad 5
This appears to be a seemingly innocent piece of money from the Seychelles. But when one looks at the palm trees on its side one can clearly see the word "sex". The Seychelles is no doubt a beautiful destination for both holiday and pleasure. This is probably why it is shaped as such.
The Read Too Much Into'ers
Ad 1
This advertisement, I saw for the first time around the late 1990s. Many Muslims, believing the West was after us attempted to demonsrate this principal by denoting that if one were to read Coca Cola backwards it would mean No Mohammed No Makkah. Because they defame us we should not drink it. I think this is really where you have to really really really stretch your imagination to conform with this belief.
Ad 2
This advertisement, I also saw for the first time around the late 1990s. In keeping with the same theme above, many Muslims took insult to this Nike Air Fire range. The main reason being that the manner in which the Air is written is almost identical to the way Allah is written in Arabic. As a result Nike withdrew all shoes which were placed into the market. I do not believe that there was any sinister intent on the part of Nike but complements must be given to them in that they withdrew it to avoid any potential problems.
Ad 3
This is probably the most cited example of subliminal advertising with a hidden agenda. For years many people have been off the view that if one were to look at the front leg of the Camel in a "Camel" pack of cigarettes one can see a young boy with an erect penis. People argue that by embedding this picture, people will associate being young and sexy smoking it. I am a smoker myself, who has seen this brand many times and never bothered to smoke it. I think in this case like the previous two, you would really have to stretch your imagination to see it.
Ad 4
I have seen these vending machines in many places. What many believe is that if you look at the shape of the ice at the top of the can, one can see the silhouette of a woman as seen in figure 2 above. I think this is another picture where one has to really really expand their imagination to conform with this viewpoint.