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Dawnawaken92 t1_j28zw1m wrote

I hate it when they don't provide the image in question lmfao...

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MissionViejo92692 t1_j292phe wrote

In the 1980s we all thought this was being done on purpose as a means of "subliminal advertising".

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martusfine t1_j292ujb wrote

I wonder what the artist did after his firing?

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MissionViejo92692 t1_j2942df wrote

Replying to 54_actual (#1,182,989)

I remember that book! Ice cubes in ads were one of the things it talked about. But the example pictures provided were sort of a Rorschach test. Even when someone tells you what you're looking for, you're not sure if you see it. I wonder if the guy who did the Coke ad took inspiration from the book and thought, I can do better. Life imitates conspiracy theory.

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dromni t1_j298wrx wrote

Replying to MissionViejo92692 (#1,182,779)

Wasn't it? Maybe the problem was that this subliminal message in particular was uncovered, and then the company had to make a theatrical act in public of clutching their pearls. =)

I mean, it's not as if many adds weren't heavily sexualized back then. The Coca-Cola sign in question even says "feel the curves", which is another obvious sexual innuendo...

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koshergoy t1_j29abp9 wrote

Replying to MissionViejo92692 (#1,182,779)

Hundreds of similar instances explained in the 1974 book "Subliminal Seduction", by Wilson Bryan Key, followed by "Media Sexploitation" in 1977.

The most famous book of this ilk was from late 1950's, "Hidden Persuaders" by Vance Packard. All 3 make for interesting reads on the subject.

One of the first widespread implementations being used in movie theaters where a single image or two in the preview reel exhorting viewers to purchase drinks and popcorn led to measurable increased traffic to concession stands.

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Serious_Guy_ t1_j29boc1 wrote

In New Zealand too. I have one that they missed when they recalled them.

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satirical_whit t1_j29hybf wrote

They say if you drink one of those Cokes while listening to Pink Floyds Dark Side of the Moon, it lines up perfectly.

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Who_DaFuc_Asked t1_j29jkqb wrote

On another episode of "people massively overreact to something that isn't a big deal, because it's the 20th century and people are still scared of showing bare shoulders on TV"...

−12

LarYungmann t1_j29jx0k wrote

The Thumb Nail Pic used is FAKE. This type of vending machine did not exist in the 1980's.

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a-horse-has-no-name t1_j29oc41 wrote

>The president of the Australian marketing arm, Coca-Cola South Pacific, Mr Mike Bascle, said the action of the artist was "quite irresponsible and not amusing"

Sir, I disagree.

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Kalikhead t1_j29olp4 wrote

I went to a Catholic HS in the 80s and in our Theology class we actually were given magazines and told to find the subliminal advertising stuff.

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Crafty_Tangerine5511 t1_j29oral wrote

Replying to 54_actual (#1,182,989)

I had an English prof in college that was OBSESSED with this book and required us to read it and THE CLAM PLATE ORGY. He even had his own slide collection of dirty subliminals he had found on his own. We had to go along with it, of course but honestly I didn’t see all the things he and the author claimed to be seeing.

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Crafty_Tangerine5511 t1_j29pe9f wrote

My dad worked in a big high school in the 70’s and a kid on the annual staff hid a lot of penises, f***s etc. in his artwork (scrolling around photos mainly) and suffice it to say no one got an annual that year. Teachers who got theirs early had to return them, but my dad got away with his. Might be the only one in existence.

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SubstantialPressure3 t1_j29qig0 wrote

Only because they were caught. If you look in old magazine ads (and probably some newer ones) look at the ads with ice cubes, water reflections, and even the shadows, you can see images and words, very subtle, but definitely not paredolia, it's intentional.

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freshandminty t1_j29sq6a wrote

I can see how this happened. It was spotted by someone driving behind a coke truck. I bet it was less obvious in smaller sized posters but when it was blown up to giant size and put on the back of a coke truck, suddenly you clearly see it. And once you see it, you’d easily spot it on smaller renditions of the artwork. I bet the artist hadn’t taken the sizing up into account. Wouldn’t have been an issue if the artist hadn’t snuck the image in in the first place but I can see how a whole campaign launched before it was caught.

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Ihavenousefora t1_j29v8sg wrote

This kind of stuff is still going on, it's just more 'blatant' than subliminal. Sex sells. Death sells. Advertising is an art and a science. If you think it's possibly a funny happy accident, it's more than likely not.

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Slashtrap t1_j2a10ek wrote

had to look for 5 minutes before noticing what could be a woman sucking on a crystal penis. it's almost like it wasn't that big a deal.

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Halfsquaretriangle t1_j2a7zk3 wrote

Irresponsible,and not amusing that the head of marketing didn't catch that before it went to the printers. He's just as much to blame. Imo.

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JillingJacks t1_j2a9fc2 wrote

Replying to Crafty_Tangerine5511 (#1,189,690)

I mean, a massive orgy will look like a pile of people, so piles of creatures technically look like orgies?

In that same fashion though, literally everything would look like sex, so maybe it was written by a sex addicted nutjob.

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p_nut268 t1_j2aab88 wrote

I've been working in advertising for 13 years. Every ad I've worked on has a penis in it. Whether it is in the wallpaper pattern that is in the shot, a skillfully placed shadow, big dick Barry squatting behind a tree or my personal favourite, the first letter of the first five words in the ad spells penis.

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GreatNoodleLord t1_j2aaone wrote

Well Starbucks has got away from it isnt a mermaid its a greek goddess, flashing her fanny at us lol

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Bigred2989- t1_j2abd3v wrote

Not lewd, but German weapon manufacturer Heckler and Koch had a bunch of catalogs made for a convention and the photographer who took the shots of one of their pistols must not have ever shot a gun ever because they loaded the magazine backwards.

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ElectriCole t1_j2abf7s wrote

This reminds me of a debacle in the late 90s where some disgruntled and fired Glade employee left a parting gift in the form of a dick pic hidden among the flowers on the can design. They shipped for weeks before anyone noticed

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4t0micpunk t1_j2aiouf wrote

I remember reading a book about subliminal messaging in advertising back in high school, Im betting they just got caught.

Edit: I should read the comments before posting, everyone read the same book !

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CasaFlata t1_j2akdvq wrote

Ridicurous prudes want to take the fun out of everything. What happened to “Have a Coke and a smile”?

1

bazinga3604 t1_j2ame01 wrote

Replying to martusfine (#1,182,822)

They probably called a press conference…When a company screws up, best thing to do is call a press conference. Alert the media, and then you control the story. Wait for them to find out, and the story controls you. That’s what happened to O.J.

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pixelburger t1_j2aogci wrote

While officially telling customers to “Feel the curves,” lol

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NOT000 t1_j2aozol wrote

kinda looks like shes singing into a microphone

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bazinga3604 t1_j2aqavq wrote

Everybody in here. STAT. No time to lose. Cri-Man-Squa. F and C, doubletime.

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PermaDerpFace t1_j2aqeak wrote

Successfully sued? Why not just say it was an accidental coincidence

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Dukie6 t1_j2arpqu wrote

Replying to 54_actual (#1,183,341)

I mean, at what point of approval can you take it back?

“Hey Brian, can you send that back to me for final approval?”

“I already sent it to the head of marketing”

I’d just start praying that I don’t get fired when they see it! I’m definitely not asking for it back!

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scoop_booty t1_j2auall wrote

I don't recall the exact client or ad campaign...I think it was Suzuki... but in the 80s I worked at an ad agency and we slipped the fbomb into the mice type at the bottom of the page. It was a prank intended for the legal team upstairs who's job it was too proofread. But somehow it slipped past them and got out the door. Oops. We were all expecting to get fired over that one. Thankfully, no one ever caught it. Learned my lesson. Now I only do that on headlines.

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Kurotan t1_j2avuhg wrote

I had to read the article and then still look a bit before I could see it. Not sure how people knew without knowing what to look for.

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hatersaurusrex t1_j2avvn9 wrote

The real obscenity here was New Coke. Man that shit was nasty.

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Opposite_Law1844 t1_j2aysu3 wrote

In the early '90s, cans of Libby's Spaghetti-Os or similar kids' pasta had drawings of jungle animals on the labels. There were four or five clear pictures of genitalia blended into the innocent-looking drawings. Once you noticed them, there was no mistaking them for "accidental similarities." This was in Canada ... idk if it happened elsewhere. But it made the news in Nova Scotia, and we found the same labels in British Columbia, so it was nationwide.

0

Thisisnow1984 t1_j2azlrr wrote

Doesn't compare to the cock on the dog in the ikea catalogue. It was gold

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Jamekk t1_j2b5dwj wrote

there should be a subreddit of these

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dohwhere t1_j2bat6d wrote

Replying to freakytone (#1,184,126)

I know you’re joking, but the guy that did the Little Mermaid VHS cover, Bill Morrison, has gone on to have a pretty decent career. In addition to having his own studio, he headed a comics group for twenty years or so, was the editor in chief of the rebooted Max Magazine, and has made some graphic novel adaptations of films.

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Tijai t1_j2bbw9y wrote

>The president of the Australian marketing arm, Coca-Cola South Pacific, Mr Mike Bascle, said the action of the artist was "quite irresponsible and not amusing"

I actually fount it quite amusing.

1

farrenkm t1_j2bfccs wrote

Replying to xX609s-hartXx (#1,194,856)

I had something similar happen. I didn't get fired, but I worked at a small business, early 90's, first job out of high school. Someone acted like a Karen before the term was common. I told a co-worker the person had acted like a bitch. My first real job, co-worker thought they should talk to owner/boss about it. Got a stern talking-to about how we can't be referring to our customers as bitches or other such derogatory names. Yeah, okay, point taken, went back to my desk duly chastised.

Co-worker and I spoke later. She admitted why she'd told boss, but said boss busted a gut when she heard because, yeah, the customer was a bitch. But boss had to put up the appearance to teach me a lesson.

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Blutarg t1_j2bhk2j wrote

How awful of someone to sneak a sexual message into a "feel the curves" advertising campaign!

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helraizr13 t1_j2bpxas wrote

The VHS clamshell version of Disney's The Little Mermaid had a dick drawn as one of the spires in the background. Once you saw it, you couldn't unsee it, it was pretty obvious when you looked for it.. The artist was fired and the tapes were supposed to be destroyed. I had a copy though, wish I still had it now.

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Trell3k t1_j2bqkas wrote

That took me way too long to figure out.

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losernameismine t1_j2bttbf wrote

I remember this - one of the ice cubes had a shadow that looked like a silhouette of a woman about to suck a dick. The artwork had been used in press adverts for a while and no one noticed, but once Coke blew the advert up and put it on the back of delivery trucks someone in a car travelling behind saw it and complained.

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SlashThingy t1_j2c5t3q wrote

Oh, South Australia. Of course it's the South Australians.

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Slashtrap t1_j2c90rt wrote

Replying to Zandrick (#1,211,598)

look closely on the zoomed-in image. there's something very vaguely resembling a black woman's nose and mouth, being near what could be interpreted as a minecraft blue dick. just being near, not even sucking on it. the layers of stretches you have to make to say this poster is innapropriate.

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Nasty9999 t1_j2cbntj wrote

My dad worked for Coca Cola New Zealand in the 80's to the mid 90's. He has this poster framed and hanging on the wall in his garage.

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abo1313 t1_j2cbw2v wrote

Nice post, I managed to get a door sticker and poster off a coke rep at the time and still have them. Framed and hung one on my ‘wall of dicks’ along side of the little mermaid vhs cover

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FatherUncleDad t1_j2ccix6 wrote

The one year the quality assurance guy decided to not work.

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flexisexymaxi t1_j2csuhi wrote

When I was a young designer in school subliminal messaging like this was a fad and we all thought that hiding this type of image in our work was a way to manipulate consumers.

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bkoly t1_j2cwl7w wrote

I edited in an obscene image into one of our wedding photos (of us, obviously). Nobody has ever noticed despite it being hung in our hallway for years.

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Fast_Polaris22 t1_j2dfdgn wrote

It was quite common at one time to manipulate sexy images (decades before photoshop) subliminally into ad photography

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HailToTheKingslayer t1_j2dlh3z wrote

I just wish Debbie Brown was in that day. Maybe they could have caught this.

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