So, you've been thinking of carpet munching while in line at Safeway, too?

Factual Questions
1

I sure was tonight. I think about these things a lot–it’s sort of a hobby of mine. However, tonight was really strange. I was thinking about nothing in particular, and then when I got in line, well, all of a sudden I was ear deep in fantasy goodness.

Then I noticed the magazine rack. This month’s edition of Safeway’s own magazine has a big picture of a juicy ham, I think, carefully sliced partway through and delicately… spread open. The headline?

“The Easiest Entree.”

I would have bought the magazine just for the cover, but I fear what I might do with it. Keep your eyes peeled and your jaws locked if you happen to be shopping at the Big S this month.

Sorry, this is the best picture I can find. It’s on the far right of the page.

2

Sofa, have you been wearing your “snorkel” during dinner again? :smiley:

3

Um, moderator? I seem to have lost my sense of direction.

How embarassing.

4

yeah… posting in wrong formum… THATS the embarrasing part. Yup! :smiley:

5

Well, since it looks like nobody’s minding the store right now, let’s turn this into a real question.

Before General Questions

Thread i.d. 63859

An amendment, in the form of a replacement:

Strike out all in italics and replace with the following:

*I sure was tonight. I think about these things a lot–it’s sort of a hobby of mine. However, tonight was really strange. I was thinking about nothing in particular, and then when I got in line, well, all of a sudden I was ear deep in fantasy goodness.

Then I noticed the magazine rack. This month’s edition of Safeway’s own magazine has a big picture of a juicy ham, I think, carefully sliced partway through and delicately… spread open. The headline?

“The Easiest Entree.”

I would have bought the magazine just for the cover, but I fear what I might do with it. Keep your eyes peeled and your jaws locked if you happen to be shopping at the Big S this month.

Sorry, this is the best picture I can find. It’s on the far right of the page.*

**The general question is:

I have seen recent examples of what I believe to be subliminal advertising of a particularly sexual nature. Has sexual subliminal advertising been proven to increase sales of products? Are there any marketing studies I might find which offer suggestions as to what sort of subliminal advertising the average buyer responds? Can anyone offer me anecdotal evidence of abrupt changes in sales as a result of subliminal advertising or subliminally presented goods?

Thank you in advance for your answers, and your patience. And Tequila, I regret to say that I have not yet had the opportunity to test that special device.**

Life deals lemons, I make lemon drop shooters. On the house!

6

Sorry, can’t answer any of your questions, but on a related note, if you’ve ever watched tv with the sound off, or listened to tv and not been watching it, it is shocking how sexual all the advertising becomes. An innocuous picture with suggestive slogans or music, or innocuous music/slogans with a very suggestive picture; taken together, we get the intended message, but don’t realize how sexual it is. When you split them apart, whooee. Just thought I’d share a way to kill some time when there’s nothing on tv.

7

…sooooo… what your saying is…

You’d like to fuck a ham.

Hmmmmmmm… very interesting… I’ll never look at glazed ham the same way again…

8

Mr. Chairman:

I’d like to add on a rider to the proposed amendment in the form of a $30 million grant to support the perverted arts.

9

I did not have sexual relations with that magazine.

Look, all I’m pointing out is that I was this close to dropping $2.99 on a freaking recipe magazine when I have trouble reheating pizza in the oven. If I had, it would obviously be a “booty buy.”

So I’m wondering (now, after the fact) if there is any hard evidence that the public in general is as susceptible to sexual suggestion as I am. Example: you have two bottles of shampoo, one a regular old bottle and the other one sexually suggestive. Does the sexy one sell better? And where can I learn more about this?

10

I think you’re confusing subliminal with sexually suggestive.

In subliminal advertising, you’re not supposed to be overtly aware of it. Cecil on the subject, BTW.

Here, your General Question seems to be “does sex sell?”

11

By definition, advertising is about selling something… while certainly sex sells, it’s not the only or even the most important factor in designing an ad… but it’s something that is usually considered. Keep in mind that not everyone is as sex-crazed as you and that overly sexual ads (even subliminal ones) can backfire. If your ad’s audiance is males, 18-25 then I think it makes sense to think about sexual aspects of the ad… if not, you’re probably wasting your time and money. In this case I don’t think Safeway was targeting young males so it’s probably a coincidence… but you can never really be sure, right?

12

Well, look into recent sales figures for Herbal Essences shampoo ever since their “She’s got the urge” commercials. That should give you an answer. I don’t know where to find this information though.

13

Sofa King - you dog!

I’m still thinking about the last issue of Balloon Folding Monthly, myself…

Redbase

14

I don’t wanna go to the store anymore.
Meat-market!

15

The ham doesn’t do anything for me, but those carrots on the left could make my git u & go giddyap.

:smiley:

16

Gosh, I’m all atwitter now. I meant uP.

17

When I was at school I did some work for various student organizations and we had brought an woman named Carol Adams to speak. To my knowledge she is the most known ‘authority’ on the subject.

As an ecofeminist author, she is most known for ‘The Sexual Politics of Meat’. Alot of her work is about the subliminal use of sexual suggestion in advertising. I’m not sure to what extent I agree with her theories but they do seem relevant to the original question, particularly with the picture of the ham. A web search can probably find some more information on her for anyone interested. I did find this site(http://www.triroc.com/caroladams/#slide) in a quick google search.