Advertising & Brand Management

Topic: Subliminal Advertisement

Submitted by,

Danial Raza (30507)

Submitted to,

Bilal Lashari
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Subliminal Advertisement
A subliminal message is a signal or message designed to pass below

(sub) the normal limits of perception. For example, it might be inaudible to

the conscious mind (but audible to the unconscious or deeper mind) or might

be an image transmitted briefly and unperceived consciously and yet

perceived unconsciously. This definition assumes a division between

conscious and unconscious which may be misleading; it may be more true to

suggest that the subliminal message (sound or image) is perceived by

deeper parts of what is a single integrated mind.

In the everyday world, it has often been suggested that subliminal

techniques are used in advertising and for propaganda purposes (e.g. party

political broadcasts).

Subliminal Adds

1. One of the more easily recognisable logos on this list, the Toblerone logo also

conceals a sweet little homage. Look carefully at the mountain and you'll see a bear

standing on two legs, in reference to the chocolate's town of origin.

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2. Unless you're particularly filthy minded, this image of three green bottles

from a beer ad seems fairly innocent at a glance. However, rotate the image

180 degrees and it's a whole different story.

3. This ad appeared in Britain's Yellow Pages but was pulled because of the

suggestive content it contains. Looks innocuous? Well flip the image upside

down and crop the lady's head and daintily held champagne glass, and it

suddenly doesn't look like her neck she's touching but a more sensitive,

exposed part of her anatomy. What's being offered here? On the face of it,

flooring though the headline, 'Laid By The Best,' is revealed as a somewhat

unsubtle sexual innuendo. Apparently less insidious marketing strategy than

a lascivious joke, the ad did nevertheless run before the fuss it provoked, and

its illustration has also been found on other materials such as matchbooks

and cocktail napkins. Mischievous maybe, but still concealed imagery

subliminally playing on the fact that sex sells.

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4. If this next entry counts as subliminal marketing, then it's the

psychological technique in one of its subtlest if not sneakiest of guises. A

controversial barcode design sported by Ferrari's Formula One cars had

watchdogs seeing red with claims that it smelled of an attempt to

subconsciously evoke the Marlboro brand, sponsors of the world famous

motor racing team. Tobacco advertising has been banned from F1 for some

years, but Philip Morris, the cigarette maker, continued to pump millions into

preserving their tie with Ferrari and the seemingly anonymous red, white

and black striped symbol did bear an uncanny resemblance to the bottom

half of a packet of Marlboros. The companies denied the claims, but in 2010

the vehicle's livery was dropped in response. And where there's smoke...
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5. We're starting to get into very sneaky territory now. This notorious KFC ad

features a tiny dollar bill hidden in the 'Snacker's lettuce, in a subliminal message

reinforcing the budget price of the sandwich.

6. A print ad for Palmolives foaming shower gel might have been designed

with frenetic page-flipping magazine readers in mind. If you stop and take a

moment to digest the ad, youll notice the womans forearm is considerably

more masculine than the rest of her.

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7. Ok, this one isn't particularly sneaky. The day this bread advertisement

was given the go ahead is the day subtlety in marketing died. Gotta give the

ad agency props for being so ballsy though. See, we can be unsubtle too.

8. This is a great example of a simple yet informative hidden symbol in a

famous company logo. The gap between the 'E' and 'x' forms the shape of an

arrow, indicating that the company are fast, efficient, and progressive.
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9. We're not entirely sure on the reasoning behind this one, other than a cheap way

to grab people's attention. The 'S' on the red Skittle is positioned in a way that

makes it look like the flavour is 'Berry Sexplosion'. Probably tasty, but certainly not

tasteful.
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10. Similarly to FedEx, Amazon's logo also features a nice little reference to

the service the company provides. The orange arrow underneath the text

points from A to Z, indicating the huge amount of stock that the online retail

giant offers.