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54_actual OP t1_j293flg wrote

Reply to comment by MissionViejo92692 in TIL In the 1980s, an obscene image was snuck into one of the ice cubes in a Coca-Cola ad in South Australia. The company recalled and destroyed all of the posters, and the artist responsible for the image was fired and sued. by 54_actual

yup. i read a book back then called 'subliminal seduction". fascinating.

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MissionViejo92692 t1_j2942df wrote

I remember that book! Ice cubes in ads were one of the things it talked about. But the example pictures provided were sort of a Rorschach test. Even when someone tells you what you're looking for, you're not sure if you see it. I wonder if the guy who did the Coke ad took inspiration from the book and thought, I can do better. Life imitates conspiracy theory.

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SubstantialPressure3 t1_j29qrss wrote

Not just ice cubes, water reflections, condensation, and shadows of artwork. It was actually fairly prevalent for a while.

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54_actual OP t1_j294trl wrote

i read that he put it in the ad, early in the process, as a joke for his co-workers. as the process of approval climbed the chain, the insert was forgotten about and went unnoticed.

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Dukie6 t1_j2arpqu wrote

I mean, at what point of approval can you take it back?

“Hey Brian, can you send that back to me for final approval?”

“I already sent it to the head of marketing”

I’d just start praying that I don’t get fired when they see it! I’m definitely not asking for it back!

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BrendanSchaubsMom t1_j2a8xhx wrote

What do you remember was mentioned about ice cubes?

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MissionViejo92692 t1_j2adl30 wrote

Images of penises, I think, were airbrushed in. The book had some color pictures in the center. I remember sort of having to take the guy's word for it regarding what the pictures were.

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PSiggS t1_j2axyel wrote

One time I found dollar bill in the lettuce of a kfc sandwich in one of their commercials

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Crafty_Tangerine5511 t1_j29oral wrote

I had an English prof in college that was OBSESSED with this book and required us to read it and THE CLAM PLATE ORGY. He even had his own slide collection of dirty subliminals he had found on his own. We had to go along with it, of course but honestly I didn’t see all the things he and the author claimed to be seeing.

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SubstantialPressure3 t1_j29quaq wrote

Never heard of the clam plate orgy.

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Crafty_Tangerine5511 t1_j29unt9 wrote

Same author. Refers to a Howard Johnson motel restaurant placemat showing a photo of a plate of fried clams. Allegedly, the clams were manipulated to resemble hundreds of humans in an orgy… !

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JillingJacks t1_j2a9fc2 wrote

I mean, a massive orgy will look like a pile of people, so piles of creatures technically look like orgies?

In that same fashion though, literally everything would look like sex, so maybe it was written by a sex addicted nutjob.

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