The 9 following cases of subliminal advertising are taken from a single issue of the magazine Vanity Fair, dated April 2015. Not that I found only 9 cases in the whole issue, but I had to make a selection, because almost all ads show the same technique of embedding the word SEX in the pictures. (“Almost all,” as far as I can see; there may be sex embeds in all advertisements, with some escaping my scrutiny.)

Such advertisements are not only found in magazines and newspapers, but also billboards.

If you would like to see my previous 25 case studies (from papers dated March 2015), click on the Subliminal category from the menu on the right.

And don’t forget: click on the pictures to enlarge them.

……………. Case 24 Ralph Lauren

The April 2015 Vanity Fair “Special Issue” opens on this double-page advertisement. The model is sitting near a mysterious bear-like animal or jumbo-sized teddy bear. The fur of this strange pet is covered with sex embeds, of which I have outlined a couple.

……………. Case 25 Tiffany & Co

What makes this embed inconspicuous at first sight is that one will not pay attention to the natural bone and tendon lines of the body. But here the lines are not natural in the least, they have been painted to both look like natural bone and tendon lines and draw the word sex. Furthermore, the S is grey, the E white, the X black, so your inattentive neocortex will not connect them.

Also note how low the “neckline” is. To the best of my understanding, her breast is uncovered by the shirt and only by the jacket. To be sure, she is a giantess, compared to the man, but still…

……………. Case 26 Burberry

This is another advertisement from one series made for Burberry. The models, Campbell and Dunn, are the same as in Case 17 from the French magazine Elle (see here). Here you have evidence that this advertising campaign has a global reach, since the different photographs from the same campaign can be found in French as well as American magazines (and billboards, as I could ascertain in the streets of Paris this month).

……………. Case 27 Miu Miu

This young lady is sitting on a wood bench degraded by knife cuts. There is a prominent E near her handbag, but it stands alone. However, the word SEX can be found on other parts of the poor bench, not too far.

……………. Case 28 Gucci

The sex embed is on the denim shirt. As far as I can see, there are a couple more Xs around that could provide the third letter. If you observe the cases well, you will find it is not unusual that some parts of the photographs are covered with graffiti, clouds of letters.

……………. Case 29 Patek Philippe

Motherly love and… SEX.

……………. Case 30 Elie Saab

An embed in the hair.

We’ll say more about this ad in Case 77.

……………. Case 31 Jimmy Choo Blossom

Isn’t it crystal clear?

……………. Case 32 Calvin Klein Euphoria

April 2015