Fecal cube
Fecal cube or pizza-delivery dessert add-on?
With the help of readers, Slate’s Seth Stevenson decodes some commercials so popular I’ve even seen them. (They must run Friday nights on Sci-Fi.) The ad agencies think they’re telling us one story, but under a different microscope dessert looks like free walking hashish.
When you speak in metaphor, there is no universal translator.
December 28th, 2006 at 5:22 pm
I’ve been interested in ads, subliminal and otherwise, for many years. During my wasted youth I read books like Vance Packard’s THE HIDDEN PERSUADERS and another, whose author I can’t name, called SUBLIMINAL SEDUCTION. One idea mentioned was that studies had shown that annoying ads worked better because when viewers got upset they became more receptive to hidden messages. Maybe that’s the real reason so many ads are irritating.
Also, I love the Visa ad everytime I see it. The music, if I’m not mistaken, is Raymond Scott’s “Powerhouse”, a great old ‘cartoon’ instrumental.
December 31st, 2006 at 2:35 am
That is indeed “Powerhouse.”