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Razor sharp Here's
another Jim Beam ad that offers insight into the mind
of the typical heavy spirits Who uses a cut-throat razor
nowadays? This implement is much more likely to be used to decapitate
someone and is commonly used by the demon barbers of literature.
In the context of the ads above one might also find expect to find
some Overall, the range of connotations of this ad are really quite worrying, especially when one thinks of a cut-throat razor in combination with sex. This could mean Jim Beam offers spirits drinkers the unkindest cut of all. It may even plant ideas of castration in some individuals minds. But most likely it simply means 'Drink Jim Beam and cut yourself off from the world, including sexual worries'. |
Robotic fun
And, sure enough, if you look at the area around the Jim Beam bottle you are likely to perceive the letters of the word sex. However, note that this type of embedded material is always potentially hazardous to comment on as it is too easy to project the products of ones imagination onto what one is looking at. See the Imagination page for more information on projection and related topics. One can only be reasonably certain that this type of borderline 'message' exists if other ads in the same series use more obvious ploys. Guilt by association in other words. It's not very fair but then has unethical advertising ever been considered fair. Note also that ads rely for their effect upon a range of factors. It is noticeable that a couple of Jim Beam ads contained robots. This could be a visual commentary upon a notable cohort of Jim Beam drinkers i.e. they function like robots. Or it could be that lots of science fiction fans like Jim Beam. Given the disparaging visual commentary upon sexual activity in the ads above one can also note that Robots are also asexual. The mind boggles at the psychological profile that distinguishes Jim Beam drinkers from other drinkers. Not much perhaps, but set your imagination rolling and see how many other interpretations you can come up with. |
Last Revised: 3rd January, 2003 |