You guys have too much time on your hands. The amount of discussion time you’re spending on this will probably get the number (if it actually was there) more advertisement than it needs.
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- Re:NetZero - I thought I read that most of the free internet services were going broke and closing up as it is, and this was a couple months back. Something about the ledgers only had one place to report revenue, titled “From Thin Air”. - MC
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Have you seen the movie again and if so, is it there?
WAG
If the theatre shows still-shot advertisements prior to the movie (Coke, Time-share Buy-backs, Movie Quizzes, Movie Terminology, Bits O’ Movie Trivia to Keep the Kids Amused, Scream if You Had Hot Dogs for Lunch, etc.) there may have been a glitch where the operator flipped on the wrong camera and nearly started showing the ads during the movie. That may be the source of the split-second banner.
“I saw a subliminal advertising executive, but only for a second.”
– Steven Wright
What I actually said was:
Even a new film can break if it’s handled incorrectly. If it broke in the middle of a frame I would assume the projectionist would not cut out the broken frame. (I’m not sure if the picture and soundtrack are on the same piece of film any more, and cutting a frame would put everything out of synch by 1/24 second.) When I saw this black line, I assumed that this is what happened. Although there should not have been a tape edge or debris in the frame, it could’ve happened.
Whatever it was, I did see a black band with something yellow in it over Hannibal’s face at one point. But as adam yax said:
Can we define ‘subliminal message’?
Isn’t it supposed to be ‘subliminable message’?
Honorary, indeed.
But, he can’t be referred to as Sir. He’s Steven Spielberg, Knight Commander of the Civil Division of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. You’d be more likely to see it as Steven Spielberg, K.B.E. though.
I thought Sir Anthony has joint citizenship, so he IS allowed to keep his title. Could be wrong though.
adam yax
Perhaps you missed my earlier point; I don’t care if subliminal advertising works in general or in this specific case. IMHO it is wrong to try to do this to people.
Our legal system considers intent to be a very important feature of a crime. Whether someone intended to do wrong is sometimes the only thing that makes what they did a crime.
Besides, if I report them and they get caught, I might get my picture in the paper. 
BTW, I now wish I had left the word “Sir” out of the OP.
Even if they did try to show a “subliminal” in your theater (and *screech-owl’s point is a good one), who says it was a crime? As I mentioned, the FTC recommends against them, but their rules govern interstate commerce. You’d better check to see whether your state or municipality has rules governing advertising that cover such a thing.
Who cares about a stupid long distance company ad that was probably just a bad splice anyway? I wanna know what brand of copper pans he used. I’ve got a nice set of Calphalon commercial but is hard anodized really the best pan for sautéing prefrontal lobes.
The product placement in Hannibal was pretty shallow. Other than the obvious (and stupid) NetZero plug, there was also a Verizon Wireless ad (a shot of a character looking at some mail, and a Verizon-emblazoned letter was prominently framed). I would think that in the spirit of the movie, they’d leave out product placements (can you really imagine Hannibal Lecter giving a testimonial? me either.), but I guess it goes to show how ridiculous advertising can get.
DaveX asked:
No.
Webster’s II New Riverside
subliminal: adj. [SUB + Lat. limen, limin- threshold] Pschol. 1. Below the threshold of conscious perception. - Used of stimuli. 2. Inadequate to produce conscious awareness.
There is no entry for “subliminable”.
sub means “below”
limin means “line” (threshold)
al is an adjective ending - it makes it an adjective rather than a noun or verb (not sure what “sublimen” or “sublimin” would be).
-able means able to be … This would imply that the stimulus below threshold was able to be below threshold? Or able to be sensed? Or what?
Not to mention it’s too much of a tongue twister. 
Um, Irishman? Whooooooooosh.
That was the sound of a perfectly serviceable George W. Bush joke flying over your head. 
:hands Irishman a large sign that says “WHOOSH!”:
George’s middle name is Whoooosh?
While he missed out on poking fun at GWB, Irishman does raise a valid point. A subliminal ad is below the threshold of perception. You, and those around you in the theater, would not notcie a subliminal ad.
A slight hijack, but related to what would be an ironic product placement:
Did anyone notice in the final scene in the kitchen that on top of the fridge was a copy of the Vegetarian Times Cookbook? I only noticed it because I have a copy of my own at home. Hoo hoo, the vegetarian winds up eating his own brain…
That’ll teach me to read to the BOTTOM of the thread before posting. If it had been just one theatre full of people who saw it, I’d agree wholeheartedly with the poster who said it was probably the slide shows that are used to amuse and bemuse the audiences whilst they eat their popcorn prematurely. It’s typically two machines, on an automatic pattern. One dissolves into the next. It could have been that the 1-800-Collect slide was faded up by mistake.
But, someone else in another state? Oye. Here is one WAG: The slide advertising machine is controlled by something that’s an imprinted marker on the film track itself. That is to say, when the film rolls, the slides turn off. It’s possible, albeit almost beyond belief, that somehow the slides were triggered momentarily AT THE SAME moment on more than one projector. There’s something in the digital soundtrack at that moment that triggers the projector to start up.
As for the splicing comment. Film is projected at 24 frames per second. Even if, for some ungodly reason, a single image was somehow spliced into a film, that would not account for what these people saw. I believe you, both of you. I just can’t imagine that it was anything other than the slide projector tripping on at the same moment. And yes, it could be- because the slides are re-set in sequence. My guess is that the “1-800-Collect” slide is the first one on the tray, in both theatres. 
Cartooniverse
REASONED RESPONSE
I don’t know much about whether or not subliminal advertising works, but [SENDMELOTSOFMONEY] I do know that my interest in this film [SENDMELOTSOFMONEY] has doubled since my conspiracy-hungry mind got hold of the idea that there might be [SENDMELOTSOFMONEY] something a bit fishy going on. If anyone’s really offended by the prospect of subliminal advertising, [SENDMELOTSOFMONEY] I’d suggest that the only response worthy of us would be to ignore it. And to keep quiet about the ad… someone’s spent a lot of time and money planting it, so let it vanish into thin air like it should. Or why not buy an alternate product RATHER POINTEDLY, IN FULL VIEW OF THE SECURITY CAMERAS on which the advertisers are doubtless observing us?
HONEST RESPONSE
Personally I’ll be calling the number as soon as ‘Hannibal’ hits UK cinemas. The bottom line is, subliminal advertising is COOL, and you KNOW it. It’s also a lot less insulting than half of the non-subliminal adverts out there. “Winston Tastes Good”… “Drink Coke”… I mean, come ON!