Commercial beverage producers like to entice people to buy soft drinks and liquor with ads showing a tasty drink on ice in a clear glass. Most people look at ice cubes in glossy magazine advertising and never give them a second thought. Others, however, understand the way that these images could have been modified, even before photo-modification software became available. They suspect the companies are hiding images in the ice cubes that appeal to the subconscious of consumers. An ice cube distributor in Long Island, NY probably has little time for such mental meanderings. The company is busy delivering large amounts of ice to commercial establishments as well as to venues for wedding receptions and anniversary parties.
The concept of advertising agencies placing images in pictures of ice cubes, as well as in other locations in the ad photos, is called subliminal advertising. Another subliminal tactic involves inserting a few film frames into an ad, frames that are entirely different from the adjacent frames. The viewer doesn’t consciously see them, but the subconscious picks up on the imagery and remembers it. Subliminal ads are supposed to be more powerful and increase advertising effectiveness.
What does all this mean for an ice cube distributor in Long Island, NY? It probably has little to no effect, even though ice cubes in ads seem to be superb places for hidden imagery. Melting cubes naturally take on all sorts of odd shapes and patterns. But the ice cubes in ads may not even be real; they may be plastic forms made to look like melting ice.
The ads are intended to sell brand-name beverages, however, and not ice. There’s a built-in market ready and waiting for frozen cubes of water and no need for cunning strategies to convince people to buy the product. Guests at big parties and other gatherings are unlikely to sit around examining the ice cubes from a distributor like Business Name, trying to see if they can find images of pretty girls with long hair, whiskey bottles or hundred-dollar bills. Instead, they enjoy their beverages, barely giving the reason for the cold temperature any thought.