Sneaky Ad on F1 Cars
Came across a very interesting article on graphicology showing how Malboro attempts to circumvent the no-tobacco-ad ruling in sports like F1. Here’s the picture showing the before/after:
Could you consider this as an ingenious subversive – and perhaps subliminal – advertising? While static it’s innocent enough as a barcode-like design motif, but at high speeds it blurs off to a somewhat familiar set of colors/proportions:
In a somewhat tangential note – it reminds me also of this article on the recent re-release of Naomi Klein’s ‘No Logo’. Originally released in 1999 it was a passionate report documenting how mega-corporates manipulates consumers through subversive marketing despite the products questionable origins (of manufacture, eco-credibility, etc.). However, its popularity ironically also spurred marketers to engage in marketing tactics to appear ever more authentic and grassroots – using subversive techniques that bypasses the formal channels. This Malboro ad could just be one of the many manifestations.
