If one were to consider this label on its own it could simply be an aberation or the idiosyncratic work of the team who produced the label. But below you will find another label and a curious element from a special classic 'remembrance' bottle that features on many other Coke cans and bottles. This second label would seem to indicate that the Gremlin 'face' is not an aberation. And, of course, Coca Cola market Sprite, whose continental European promotions are noted on the Viva Espana page. The second label seemingly tells a 'story' about how sexy Coke drinkers could be if they drink Coke - or how they have 'balls'. Is it perhaps the case that Coca-Cola are getting worried about other brands taking a slice of their market share and they have decided to do everything they can, including the use of 'subliminal' techniques, to get Coke drinkers to associate Coca-Cola with basic motivational notions? Perhaps also it is a 'homecoming' for Coke as Coca Cola was one of the first products mentioned in the early literature on subliminal advertising. James Vicary claimed to have used subliminal messages to increase the sale of peanuts and Coca Cola in a movie theater in Fort Lee, New Jersey. Vicary's study seems to have been a scam but his claims may have impressed itself on the collective memory of the Coca Cola company.
If you look at the young man's left hand you will see it is placed under the dot of Diet. And there are two of these dots on the label. As Shakespeare might have said: 'Dots or balls? That is the question.' Coca Cola might not have the balls to admit their attempt to manipulate the thoughts of some consumers. But the 'balls' on the label clearly go someway towards complementing the 'erection' aspect of the label. But 'balls' and an incomplete 'erection' might not be quite enough to ensure the reception of Coke as a 'sexy' drink or to enhance the self perceptions of their customers as sexy consumers. More cues are needed. Look further to the left of the label. There you will see a faint, but nonetheless clear, letter S, or at least the top of the letter. On the original label it is also relatively easy to perceive the letter E. And, in a different colour, very faintly embedded below these 'letters' there are a couple of X's. You will need to have the light shining on the label at an appropriate angle for these variations to 'stand out'. Put
the letters of sex, a (couple of) ball(s) and an apparent 'erection'
together into one If
you don't believe that Coca Cola wish to have drinkers associate
sex with their product then ask yourself why they needed to
bring sexy games into their labelling, as in the label on the
left. Could the three elements in the first label have arisen by chance? I doubt it. There are not enough Gremlins around to screw up professional artwork that easily. If
the designers of these labels also had a say in the design of
the special issue of the classic Use your imagination and six could presumably be 'read' as sex. But why should such an apparently unreasonable interpretation seem justifiable to the author?
One would seemingly have to bear in mind that ambiguous imagery with multiple interpretations, such as the Coke glass, can be intentional, leaving the final perception open and subject to individualistic interpretations in susceptible viewers. Note, for example, that the 'letter' can also be perceived as a 'smiling face'. In 2002, Coca-Cola Co produced a poster/ad campaign using only parts of the classic brand name. Such a campaign was clearly functional, as the colouring and shape of the classic logo is extremely well known, but would the company actually produce souvenir/marketing devices with only part of the brand name showing? I doubt it. With
regard to the illustration on cans of Diet Coke, and in line
with the view that any ambiguous visual elements can be interpreted
in a variety of ways (see the Psychology
pages), a certain Dr. Lechnar has apparently managed to
convince his/her friends and If one takes into account that the shape of the glass is somewhat similar to a female torso the sketched elements can be perceived as breasts if the can is held at arms length. AND, going beyond Dr. Lechnar's interpretation, as if to trigger such a 'sexy' interpretation 'sexy' letters can also be found in this portion of the illustration (at least on cans). Look closely at the 'bubbles' alongside the middle of the glass. It is possible to perceive an x and an S, in that order and with relative sizes in proportion to the print size in this sentence. Below the S is a bubble with a smudged X in the centre. One should note that one can only claim that this is an approximate representation of a woman's torso including breasts. Neither of the two elements really is breast shaped although there are elements suggesting that one should 'think' of breasts. Recognition of the 'breasts' requires overlooking the fact that the sketched lines include features that would not exist in reality e.g. the inwards curve of the '6' on the right hand 'breast'. Another way to indicate that this is not a good representation is to note that light and shade are not represented appropriately. However, note also that the left hand shape can be perceived as a 'mouth' attempting to suck the 'breast' on the right. This is especially apparent on 2 litre bottles where the 'breast' and 'mouth' are more evident and the 'breast' possesses a 'nipple'. Such ambiguous representations can be taken in another direction - and possibly capture the preconscious attention of another group of Coke drinkers. The curled shape contains a pretty obvious phallic shape if one focuses attention on the central aspects of this figure rather than the overall image. This glass thus contains a pretty ambiguous set of elements that can be interpreted a number of different ways dependent upon ones preferences or predispositions. Bear in mind when considering the interpretations of the glass and its letter-like/breast- like features, that smaller letters are clearly presented on the bottle e.g. the details of the contents. These additional visual elements on the can indicate there is no technical impediment to a clear representation of the brand name or any other feature. It therefore seems unlikely that the ambiguity in the artwork meant that the artists responsible for this ad were so incompetent they could not produce accurate representations of (die)t and C(oke) - or breasts - if they had wished to do so. The other possibility is that the Coca Cola company have developed and implemented a strategy to manipulate the thoughts of some of their customers by producing labels containing ambiguous figures. As pointed out elsewhere, on the Psychology page, with ambiguity there exist a number of possible interpretations. Meaning for the ambiguous figure is 'supplied' by the viewer in line with their primary interests. And, given the age group of the primary cohort of consumers of Coca Cola, their prime interest is often members of the opposite sex. So, is this The Real Thing? Or what?
If
you are still in doubt about Coca Cola's attempts to manipulate
the thirst of drinkers by means other than standard marketing
activities - and including a diuretic in their drink - view
the following label. The notable feature of this add is the
direction of gaze of the young woman. She seems to have found
the sexy connotations of Again you might think this is coincidence, as dancers do not always look directly at their partners. And it might be - if it were not for the fact that on the left of the label (alongside the Coke glass) can be found a smattering of shapes reminscent of three letters that are very familiar to viewers of this site. As with the label noted above, light has to be shining on the label at specific angles for the 'lettering' to stand out. And you also need to be looking carefully at this specific area of the label, not the label as a whole. You will also find many of these 'letters' around - or rather among - the bubbles surrounding the background to the Diet Coke Logo on cans and labels. The larger the label e.g. 2 litre bottle are best, the easier these are to see. These 'letters' are part of the background i.e. the grey/silver area, rather than the white that is used to produce the bubbles. Look carefully and you will see rather a lot of the letters S e and x, in various sizes, embedded in this area of the label. Despite the set of labels analysed above, until recently the author has not personally noted many anomalous labels for either Coke or Pepsi. One Pepsi package was brought to his attention by a viewer but this may be the cans illustrated above. However, something seems to be brewing in the Coke Wars. Pepsi recently produced a curious label for Pepsi Max (see below). Other Pepsi images derived from photographs of billboard posters can be viewed on the page devoted to some ads from Mexico. |
Apparently in an attempt not to be outdone by Coca Cola, Pepsi has also entered the semi-subliminal stakes. This would not be the first time that competing brands make use of the same techniques. See for example the Marlboro and Camel ads or the various soap powder packages on the Squeaky Clean page. The Pepsi Max label does not attempt, at least not quite as overtly as the special Coca Cola label, to associate itself with sex. Nevertheless, there is an embedded element related both to sex and to 'mothering' in the artwork on the Pepsi Max label. But we'll leave that until last. Just as in the Bud Ice label discussed on the Bud page, the Pepsi Max incorporates a number of faces. Each of these is 'looking' towards the Pepsi brand name, with one exception. You can find these noted on the rollover image and view larger examples of each 'face' at the end of the section. There is a large, somewhat immature, face with 'sad eyes' underneath the A of the cental MAX. Thee is a second face, 'puckering up and blowing a kiss' in the direction of Pepsi Max as the text runs vertically up the label to the right of centre. And there is a third, sexy/mothering, element to be found underneath the M of the lefthand Max. This again is a 'face'. But the mouth of this 'face' is aligned with what could be perceived as a breast, complete with nipple. Is this image intended to indicate that Pepsi drinkers are not yet weaned? Or is it intended primarily to be 'identified' as a representation of sexual foreplay? Your call. A possible fourth, 'ghostbuster' type, face' can be discerned facing towards the viewer just to the right of the 500 mle tab to the right of the label. On 2 litre bottles one can also perceive a 'couple' about to kiss underneath and to the left of the Pepsi Max logo on the left. For additional commentary on Pepsi ads and other promotional material see the pages devoted to Mexican ads. |
The quality of the image on the site does not do justice to what you will see if you grab a bottle and examine an original label. Additionally, one should note this type of ad is rather ambiguous. It requires a degree of 'priming' before one can consciously recognise the 'letters'. The 'letters' overlap, are at different angles, are incomplete, etc. And they are not as obvious as the 'letters' on the Diet Coke labels as noted above. However, overall, the arrangement is clearly suggestive of specific letters, and not just any of the 26 letters of the alphabet. The author would therefore contend this pattern is not simply a chance occurrence nor an example of pareidolia. As the enlarged extract shown below indicates, the shapes indicative of 'lettering' are clustered up above the r of each Dr Pepper logo. The most easy to 'recognise' are, as might be expected, are S E and, yes, X. But bear in mind that what is happening is superimposition of your expectations i.e. logical guesses, as to what is embedded in the background. There is little if any difference in the texture of the 'letters' and the rest of the darker background. With material such as this your expectations (if any) will have been primed or influenced by many other factors: the location and social situation you are in, who you are with, the magazines you have read and other experiences. Any or all of these - if they relate to sex in any way (consider, for example, the articles listed on the front covers of many magazines), - may be enough to tilt your judgement in favour of 'sexy' Dr. Pepper when you view the ambiguous texturing on the label - rather than plain Dr. Pepper. So ..................... C'mon Dr Pepper, isn't it enough that the Coca Cola company already doctors Coke, Fanta, Sprite, Diet Coke and Lilt labels? Isn't Dr Pepper spicy enough without the extra doctoring? Here, viewers should note that Dr. Pepper is only produced under licence in the UK but is produced by Dr. Pepper Co. in the US. As Dr. Pepper presumably supervised the design of the Dr. Pepper label, one should not necessarily expect both companies to make use of similar promotional labels. But in this respect, since the Coca Cola company is not the only soft drinks manufacturers using 'subliminal' embedded imagery, it seems reasonable to ask if Coca Cola influenced the design of Dr. Pepper labels? Or have Dr. Pepper's marketing specialists drawn the same conclusion as Pepsico and Coca Cola Company, namely that in some markets is seems to pay to embed 'subliminal' images and messages in labels. And one final thought. One wonders what the Coca Cola company is getting up to with their other brands, most of which are on sale only in the United States. Watch this space for information about "Coke light", "Five Alive", "Fresca", "Hi-C", "Mello Yello", "Minute Maid", "Diet Sprite" and "TAB". If these, and other Coke labels, contain secondary images they'll be revealed on the Subliminal World web site in due course. If you have any of these brand labels handy give them a careful look and let me know what you find. |
Quick Links to other sites referred to in the discussion material on this page. |
Last Revised: 3rd January, 2003 |