Just Jazz?
As Mae West is once reputed to have said 'Is that a banana in your pocket, or do you just like me? YSL, eat your heart out. |
Beach Bum?
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Taking the Pils
Look at the right hand side of the coaster and you will see a shape reminiscent of a finger - or it may be considered a phallic shape. Anything longer than it is wide can, of course, be considered phallic. Additionally, if one looks also at the shirt worn by the rather scruffy individual in the centre of the coaster it is easy to see what appears to be a Rhinoceros horn. It is off-centre so one cannot easily imagine that it is intended to be indicative of an erection. But it probably is. Note that this is much more prominent on the coasters than on any of the posters using the same imagery. Look
more carefully at the phallic/finger shape on the right. It
is actually composed of letters. These are S E and X.
The combination of all of these elements leaves little doubt that
no matter how scruffy you look, if you drink Holsten Pils you will
be able to 'have it off' against the competition. If you
believe, that you will believe anything - but then members of the
advertising profession know that Many of the other pages on this site give some consideration to the reasons why semi-subliminal adverts, containing images and words that are not consciously noticed, tend to emphasize the subject of sex (but you know why already, don't you?). |
Pepper'n'Spice?
The
image clearly does not present anatomically correct information.
Nevertheless Whilst this interpretation may seem to be a 'long stretch of the imagination' and likely to be disputed, such objections become less likely when one considers other ads in the same series. At least two of these ads (and possibly four) make use of phallic shapes (one was double headed), innuendoes (it's harder) or additional embedded artwork (the letters s e x). Overall, these ads can be viewed on the Flora page and present the sexualized message; 'Flora is not simply good for you, it is sexy'. Flora's key competitor, namely Delight, also produced ads at the same time which were semi-subliminally sexualized. Presumably the Delight ads were intended to ensure that Flora did not benefit unduly from the semi-subliminal elements in its advertising. Which campaign made use of the semi-subliminal content first is not clear.
Incidentally,
surprising as it may seem, the peppery Flora ad discussed here became
a 'pinup' in an office I worked in. It may have been selected
by the secretaries for reasons related to a love of salads. I suspect
there was a strong (unconscious) influence from
For yet another phallocratic ad, for the smokers in the audience, courtesy of Silk Cut Ultra. And another, courtesy of Jack Daniel whiskey, see Viva Espa�a. |
Action Men?
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Last Revised: 3rd January, 2003 |