I’m sitting at home, eating gouda and crackers, and watching Sienfeld reruns when a McDonalds commercial comes on.
“Whatcha doing?” Says the man.
“Playing solitare.” Says the woman.
“I can take a hint.” says man. Other examples of men using any excuse to get to Mickey-D’s for some new bacon sandwich occur. And then…there’s a flash cut with two images, vocal distorion, and then back to the commercial. The first time, I thought it was just a signal snafu, but I’ve seen this thing THREE times and it happened every time. One flash cut is of a chili pepper, I can’t tell what the others are. I think it’s right after the words “Unforgettable taste menu.”
Well, I can’t say as I have noticed any underhanded connivery to get me to wolf down any more McD’s than normal. What I can say is that they need all the help they can get with that new Cajun burger they’re shilling now. What the fuck is that “sauce” they’ve got slathered all over that thing? Bleah, it looks like someone already ate one of them and ended up blowing chow all over the place.
Sorry, that was gross. But no, no chili pepper.
Why would McD’s NEED to use subliminals? Their media campaign has been analyzed to death, it uses a technique called “Point-of-Sale transference.” Due to your years of saturation bombing by commercials, you are now incapable of experiencing McD’s as it truly is. You are no longer ingesting hamburgers, you are ingesting images of happy, smiling, singing people. Your experience of greasy fries and bad beef has been replaced by a synthetic experience in your mind.
I’ve seen that commercial at least 10 times in the past week, but I haven’t noticed any voodoo flashes or weird voices. I’ll pay more attention next time. And as many times as I’ve seen that commercial, I could not have told you what specific sandwiches they were advertising. Subliminal Schubliminal.
I only watch for the guy who goes to get a trombone. He’s funny.
Hey, did the US get that poorly named Wrap that McD’s was flogging in Australia a while back? I don’t know about you, but to my ears there’s very little difference between McWrap and McCrap.
Chas.E - While I agree with the point that it is attempting to persuade the planet to eat there through brand recognition, I find that they have a built-in deterent…the odour of grease emanating from the restau…fast-food pit puts me right off any time I approach them.
I haven’t seen the commercial, I suppose I channel surf too much during breaks in the program I am watching. I rue the day that DTV is the only broadcast available (too long to switch to each channel).
What shows and channels is it broadcast during? Are they
local shows or network shows?
I have a hunch you’re only seeing it in your area, on one
broadcast station, because McDonald’s bought local ad time
in addition to national ad time - the local one was sent
to the station and put on a tape with a editing glitch.
Doesn’t “subliminal” mean that you shouldn’t be able to see it or even recognize that it’s there? I seriously doubt that Mcdonald’s let a mistake like that slip. My guess is that the comercial on the station that you are watching has a flaw in it or something.
I don’t watch much TV, but I noticed the flash of Chili Peppers near the end of the commercial when I saw it last night. I didn’t hear anything strange, but I’ve only seen the commercial once.
Not hardly. I was merely pointing out that I, for one, am perfectly content to be manipulated by insidious saturation-bomb advertising that numbs me to the inherently rotten food, service, and atmosphere that exists in the actual McDonalds restaurants, as opposed to the phony Nirvanaesque experience fobbed off in their television advertising. What’s wrong with that?
Swiddles, I did see that ad recently, and while there are rapid intercuts of jalapeno peppers at the end, the essence I got from the voice-over is that the announcer is just speaking very quickly; almost too quickly for the brain to process what it’s hearing. It could sound like vocal distortion, but I think it’s just unexpected motor-mouthing that we can’t immediately pick up.
