What's that commercial saying?

So apparently the advertising world is always evolving. In the 90's, you may have noticed a very "in your face style" of commercials, featuring voice-overs that yell at you, explosions, and awesome rock jingles. (You're welcome, you're welcome, and you're welcome.) From what I can see, though, today things are more subdued. Looks people got tired of all that, and now minimalist ads lead to maximalist sales. And, in a commercial with less noise and visual action, there's more room for things to be in the background.

For instance, you may have seen this KFC commercial. There's a dollar bill hidden edited into the lettuce of the sandwich. That's a smart move by KFC -- they want you to associate a dollar bill with their sandwich. That way, every time you notice there's a dollar in your wallet, even though you don't realize it, you subconsciously think of KFC. Kudos, colonel.

Here's another example. It's an Orbitz commercial. Unlike the KFC one, though, I don't think there's a positive association here. Many groups are upset about this, and I understand why. From my perspective, it's just a bad marketing move. Check it out below and see if you can catch it.

Did you see it? Don't feel bad if you aren't as keen as me. I'll break it down for you. Here's a screen capture at fourteen seconds in.

Bang! Right there, plain as day, on the right guy's polo shirt, is a blue square with a yellow equal sign. You know what that symbolizes?

MATH.

Now, no one likes math. No one. Why would a travel site -- which is supposed to take the number-crunching out of things -- want you to associate them with math? Everything else is right on: the palm trees, the golf course, and the hovercraft. They're all good things. Unless you've got a thing against argyle sweaters, there are some really solid positive associations here. But math? I don't know. It seems like math has recieved a boost in the last few years, though. In fact, it's everywhere.





In this videogame, you play as a pie chart.

As if hospitals weren't depressing enough already, this one has a plus sign.

These frat guys probably don't even know that an irrational number is right outside their house.









Why Orbitz wanted to sneak math in their commercial, I don't know. But the point is, you have to know how to keep your product on people's minds and get them to associate your brand with something.