Be
Bold, Be Brave, Be a Subliminal Someone in Advertising
As was
noted elsewhere on this site it is relatively rare to find examples
of semi-subliminal on packaging. At least this was the case until recently.
Perhaps the originators of this technique are becoming somewhat bolder.
On the left is a pack of Bold washing powder.
There is seemingly nothing unusual about the pack and the characteristics
are pretty much the same as dozens of other containers of washing powders.
However if you look more closely at the foot of the pack (quick before
they get taken
off the shelves) you will see the face of a young boy or a girl or perhaps
it is an elfin faced young woman. The 'face' is looking towards an area
of the packaging where a number of letters are evident. The letters
are SEX. The E's and X are clear enough but the S (or S's) are overlapping
with the others and other elements of the packaging so they can only
be guessed at. See the rollover for the positions of some of the letters
but note that the S is only one of a number of possibilities.
Needless to say, given the use
of semi-subliminal material in the packaging one can anticipate the
same technique being used in print advertising. Although nowhere near
as clear as in the package one can also find a plethora of 'shapes'
indicative of lettering in Norman Wisdom's jacket in the left hand image
in the position where the Bold pack is later inserted on the right.
The quality of the imagery is such that one could easily consider that
the judgement relies as much, if not more, on projection of expected
lettering. However the third of the Bold ads to be shown here also contains
a semi-subliminal figure. This seems sufficient reason to think that
the 'lettering' in the Norman Wisdom ad is actually present, if on the
borderline of perceptual ability, and not simply due to imagination.
This
third ad shows a rather surrealistic view, looking out through the back
of a 'wardrobe' at some countryside beyond. Somewhat surprisingly the
sky is dark blue
rather than the expected summery light blue one would normally expect.
There may be a reason for this. It could be that it is to distract viewers
from another dark figure embedded in the greenery underneath. If the
sky had been in marked contrast then more attention might have been
given to the hedge that is apparent midway across the fields.
A
closer look at this hedge (on an original ad) reveals that it is, in
fact, a couple lying down on their stomachs and facing each other. Or
at least the (male?) figure on the left is lying in this position. The
(female?) 'figure' on the right is represented simply by a head, as
if the body were buried in the soil or, perhaps more appropriately,
given the SEX embedded in the packaging, she is lying underneath the
male figure. Note that one
should simply use the rollover to give you an idea of where the figures
are present. It would require take more artistic ability than the author
possesses to delineate them precisely. Once you 'know' where to look
the brain 'constructs' the image that is perceived on the basis of all
the information present. If you doubt this, have a look at the Psychology
and Imagination
pages.
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