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.