# Subliminal skull in advertisements -- why? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 12, 2003, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subliminal-skull-in-advertisements-why/181345 "2003-06-12T15:21:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Satisfying\_Andy\_Licious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Satisfying\_Andy\_Licious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satisfying_Andy_Licious)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2003, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subliminal-skull-in-advertisements-why/181345/41 "2003-06-16T17:50:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ranchoth \* > **If it’s of any help, [this](http://johnw.host.sk/articles/freemasons/subliminal_messages.htm) page has a few scans of alleged subliminal adverts, including two ice cube "skulls."** I read Key’s book some time ago, and at first I thought he had some good points. He included a cigarette ad of hockey players, and on the ice was a hockey glove. It bore the equipment-maker’s name, which I think was Cooper, but it very much looked like it said “cancer.” Key said that cigarette smokers tended to see the manufacturer’s name, while non-smokers saw the word “cancer.” I tried this with many people, and oddly enough, he was right every time. But the more I read of Key, the more convinced I was that he was taking a very small handful of suggestive ads and stretching them into a vast conspiracy. People can see just about anything they want in clouds, liquids, foam, mist, etc. A good example is from **Ranchoth’s** link. The website claims all sorts of hidden meaning in the Windows startup logo. It’s fun to note the supposed “666” message (the mark of the beast, without which you are not permitted to buy or sell. Yep, just try to conduct business without Microsoft!) But they also see images in the clouds of the startup logo. The man supposedly staring down from the sky – if it were a face, it would be a pretty Joe-average face, not a godlike presence. As for the dark horse, it’s a real stretch. I could look over this and come up with half a dozen other images. Heck, I see figures in the faux-marble finish over my Jacuzzi. One thing that might add weight to conspiracy theorists is that just about every ad is heavily airbrushed or otherwise doctored. I toured a magazine office once and they showed us how they were having an ad for macaroni and cheese airbrushed. The airbrushing of Playboy centerfolds is legendary. So yeah, they are creating illusions, false and doctored images. And speaking of Playboy, I once saw something in a back-cover beer ad that I could easily believe was intentionally subliminal. A bottle of beer was raised so that the round end of it had a prominent position. A drop of moisture was on the round surface, and the airbrushing here was obvious. The drop looked like a nipple – on the rounded, breast-like curve. I doubt it was accidental. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2003, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subliminal-skull-in-advertisements-why/181345/42 "2003-06-16T21:07:06Z")
Man if only I had kept those old Playboys. In the late 70’s to early 80’s There was an ad in lots of national magazines for “Mount Gay Rum” or some similar rum featuring “The Captain” as a character, and in one of the ads, there in the background swirls of the drink there was the fairly evident head of a female figure with an “O” mouth getting ready to fellate a roughly penis shaped object. It was amusing at the time but in hindsight I think it was less a case “subliminal” advertising and more just the the artist just having some fun. ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2003, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subliminal-skull-in-advertisements-why/181345/43 "2003-06-16T23:14:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ranchoth \* > **And, I’d just like to note, some of (well, all of) the theories on the page I just linked to seem to have been written up by a Freemason-phobic lunatic. I just didn’t want to be accused of believing or condoning them.** Not only that but a few of them have been debunked 20 years ago. I must admit the “Twinkle, twinkle Little Star” backwards as “I wish there was no Allah” is pretty funny. And who knew the BBC was so evil? ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2003, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subliminal-skull-in-advertisements-why/181345/44 "2003-06-16T23:21:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Satisfying Andy Licious \* > \*\*It’s fun to note the supposed “666” message (the mark of the beast, without which you are not permitted to buy or sell. Yep, just try to conduct business without Microsoft!) But they also see images in the clouds of the startup logo. \*\* Thanks for point that out. Hilarious stuff. My favorite quote: > [@](#): > > There are a number of other hidden images on the win95.bmp file, which can be found in your Windows directory, such as the image of a flying bird just above the Microsoft logo. “…which, if true, would mean death for us all.” I mean the guy is literally seeing things in the clouds! And nothing he sees in the clouds is even offensive, demonic, or sexually suggestive! He’s seeing a bird, a face, and a horse (none of which, hard as I try, I am able to see, BTW). I wonder what happens if somebody like this starts seeing Satanic messages in real clouds. Will he think God is endorsing Satan? Will his head explode? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subliminal-skull-in-advertisements-why/181345.md?page=2)