Tagged: mental manipulation
Subliminal Advertising III: Night and Day Pollution
Cases 10 to 14 are taken from a single issue of the French news weekly L’Express, dated March 18-24, 2015. Cases 15 to 23 come from a single issue of the French women’s weekly magazine Elle, dated March 20, 2015.
Although taken from French journals, many of these ads are promoting multinationals’ brands and were designed by advertising agencies with international marketing in view (I am quite confident that they can be found in other countries too).
Same as previously (for more case studies, and for the theory, please click on the Subliminal category from the menu on the right), for each case I present an overall picture of the ad first, then a picture focusing on the relevant part of it, where the subliminal or subliminals are, and finally a third picture with the sub outlined on my computer so you can compare with picture 2. Case 15 has only two pictures, since a picture 2 wasn’t needed. Case 16 has five pics, because I focus on two different spots.
…………… Case 10 The No Sex Fear
On this ad for the fashion brand Hogan the sex embeds are located on the dancing man on the right. I have outlined two embeds on his right arm and forehead, but there are several more tiny ones on his shoes and one more on his arm tattoo as well. Interestingly enough, most conspicuous from his tattoo is the word NO. With the outlined sex embeds the message, actually, reads NO SEX.
One way to analyse this subliminal message would be that it is a vicious injunction meant to subliminally hinder sex life, because sexually deprived people would be more receptive to advertising and consume more. I believe this would be a line of argument favored by W.B. Key, pioneer in the study of subliminal advertising, whom I have already cited (here).
I can see at least two other reasons for a No Sex subliminal message. It would be reassuring to young women. The party displayed on the ad only suggests fun, mind you! In other words, it is not showing the last decent moments (very relatively decent, in fact) before a sex orgy. It happens sometimes that girls who only want to have fun end up having sex without caring for it. Doesn’t it?
On the other hand, the No Sex message could also be a reminder: We remind you you have no sex in your life. As the main targets of this brand are young people, a good deal have never had sex. Given that sex is a passage from child to adult, the fear that one might never experience sex and become an adult is a real factor in adolescent psychology. This is the no sex fear, which the ad intents to exploit subliminally.
Case 10
10 – 2
10 – 3
…………… Case 11
On this ad for the Italian-based fashion brand Geox, the pattern of the displayed shoes offers an easy opportunity for embedding. In the shadow of the white shoe’s lace, the graphist has painted an E. The S and X are provided by the pattern itself, slightly darkened in the case of the X.
Case 11
11 – 2
11 – 3
……………. Case 12
This brand of coffee advertises a partnership with Nespresso. At first sight, given the dull aspect of the ad, full of boring text that no one would ever care to read, I told myself there must be something bold to look for. I wasn’t disappointed. See the shadows on the jersey.
Case 12
12 – 2
12 – 3
…………… Case 13
This one for the state-owned French bank La Banque Postale.
Case 13
13 – 2
13 – 3
……………. Case 14
This one promotes the DVDs of the American TV series Boardwalk Empire. The blood on the face delineates, rather conspicuously I find, the letters S and X. The letter E is there, of course, but not so apparent.
Case 14
14 – 2
14 – 3
…………… Case 15 Emporio Armani
With this case begins the series from the women’s magazine Elle. The sex embeds have been painted as reflections on the girl’s glasses.
Case 15
15 – 2
……………. Case 16 Ralph Lauren
The main camel in the background is covered with embeds. I have outlined the four most conspicuous. The gown of the lady exhibits at least one sex embed too, at the bottom, painted as folds and shades.
Case 16
16 – 2
16 – 3
16 – 4
16 – 5
……………. Case 17 Burberry
These are the models Naomi Campbell and Jourdan Dunn. Naomi’s lips have been adorned with a SEX, embedded amidst the natural furrows of these fleshy parts pf hers.
Case 17
17 – 2
17 – 3
…………… Case 18 Salvatore Ferragano
Case 18
18 – 2
18 – 3
……………. Case 19 Kenzo
Case 19
19 – 2
19 – 3
……………. Case 20 ba&sh
Case 20
20 – 2
20 – 3
…………… Case 21 Furla
The sex embed lies on the lady’s dress. The S and E are a lighter red than their background, the X has been painted as a shadow.
Case 21
21 – 2
21 – 3
…………… Case 22 What For Shoes
Case 22
22 – 2
22 – 3
…………… Case 23 La Redoute
Last but not least, a sex embed on a preadolescent girl, for the French distance selling company La Redoute.
Case 23
23 – 2
23 – 3
March 2015
Subliminal Advertising
The following completes the two previous case studies I (here) and II (here).
Authors who have written on subliminal advertising, such as Wilson Bryan Key, pioneer in the field, (Subliminal Seduction, 1973; Media Sexploitation, 1976; The Clam-Plate Orgy, 1980; and The Age of Manipulation, 1989), and August Bullock (The Secret Sales Pitch. An Overview of Subliminal Advertising, 2004), adopted a Freudian viewpoint on the subject, assuming that the analysis made by advertisers themselves were on those kinds of lines. My guess is that this assumption is based on Vance Packard’s exposure of The Hidden Persuaders (1957), in which for the first time the public was made aware of the extent with which so-called motivational research (MR) was used in commercial advertising; Packard seemed to believe MR was based on psychoanalysis. However, reading Ernest Dichter’s (one of the first practitioners of motivational research) best known book The Strategy of Desire (1960) brings no confirmation of the importance of psychoanalysis in the latter’s thought. In that book, Freud and psychoanalysis are mentioned a couple of times, not in a subservient way, and indeed Gestalt psychology is mentioned oftener and seems to have exerted a greater influence.
Among the people presented by Packard, “the most genial and ingratiating of all the major figures operating independent depth-probing firms,” motivational researcher James Vicary, started, the same year as The Hidden Persuaders appeared, a business called Subliminal Projection Corporation, intended to sell subliminal projectors for television and the silver screen. However, public outcry made him cancel his plans. Today, subliminal techniques, in the US, are prohibited on TV — but not on cinema (see Bullock): What makes the difference relevant according to the law? one may ask. As to paper advertising, it goes undisturbed.
There is no need to resort to Freudian unconscious in order to explain subliminal advertising, and the fact that Key and Bullock rely so much on that theorizing is a weakness rather than a strength, since the validity of specific psychoanalitic theses is quite shaky, to say the least (see H.J. Eysenck).
Our brain is made of several parts, corresponding to different stages of our evolution. The most archaic part is what we call the “reptilian brain,” located in the brainstem. Mammals have it in common with reptiles, birds, and fish. The two other parts are the paleocortex or limbic system (emotions) and the neocortex (thinking). It is sometimes talked of an “old brain” (as limbic system including the brainstem a.k.a. reptilian brain) and a “new brain” (neocortex). The reptilian brain is the organ of survival: In remote life conditions, it was continuously scanning the environment in order to detect threats and objects of vital interest. In primates and humans, it is visual. Researches have shown that it visualizes objects even before these enter our consciousness. The principle of subliminal images is that they are visualized by the reptilian brain without entering our consciousness. Advertisers believe this can impact consumer behavior (the “sovereign consumer”), relying on what is known as the Poetzl effect, according to which subconsciously vizualized images are stored in an unconscious memory whence they may influence behaviour.
……………………………… Case 1 Beachcomber (from French weekly Le Point, March 12, 2015)
A happy family is going to the beach. There might perhaps be something striking in the fact that her bath suit is a bit too large for the girl on the right, and one does not see clearly either what the smiling lady is looking at, she seems to be gazing either in the void or just before the man’s pelvis, that is at his erect penis, but these, I would say, are only suggestive, non-subliminal or half-subliminal tricks. There is, however, a subliminal SEX painted on the man’s shirt. (First picture shows the ad, second picture shows the shirt, third picture shows the shirt with the SEX delineated so you can compare with picture 2.) (Click To Enlarge)
Subliminal Case 1 – Picture 1
Subliminal Case 1 – Picture 2
Subliminal Case 1 – Picture 3 (Subliminal SEX is delineated)
…………………………….. Case 2
From Time Magazine, March 30, 2015, on a Briefing page (12), a soda can is shown to illustrate a news on diet sodas. Although it is not brand advertising, it is some all brands-encompassing advertising for soda consumption, and one can find SEXes painted at the bottom of the can. On picture 3, one SEX has been delineated, forming a straight line; an alternative SEX is on picture 4, with same S and E but X taken from above so the three letters form a triangle. Other S, E and X, even bigger than these ones, can be picked up.
Case 2 – 1
Case 2 – 2
Case 2 – 3 (Subliminal SEX has been delineated)
Case 2 – 4 (Subliminal SEX has been delineated)
……………………………. Case 3
From Time Magazine, March 30, 2015, p.46, the following picture of three actors from a movie presented on p.45. People in the media call it film criticism, some other people call it advertising. Whether subliminal techniques are required for film criticism, I don’t know, but I can see SEXes in the picture, in the background on the left, where some shady area is apparent, inside of which clouds of embedded letters can be perceived. Several overlapping SEXes pop up, of which I have delineated one.
Case 3 -1
Case 3 – 2
Case 3 – 3 (One embed delineated. More can be found.)
………………………………. Case 4 Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group (from The Economist, March 27, 2015)
It’s only a lady (she might be famous but I don’t know her, sorry) looking at us or someone from inside a car. All is trim and neat in the picture, except for a little chrome bar on the right side below the window, where some small graffiti are visible. When you look closer, you can see three letters, X, S, E, which makes a SEX puzzle (for your reptilian brain to play with).
Case 4 – 1
Case 4 – 2 (All is neat and trim, but why is the chrome bar flyblown?)
Case 4 – 3 (See?)
March 2015
