“It takes a village to raise a child.”

I was sitting in the drive-thru at the McDonald’s on Rymal Road and Upper James St South in Hamilton a few nights ago and I found myself drawn towards a large advertisement set up on the wall between the two drive-thru windows. (see below) The ad wasn’t radical in any way- it showed some French fries, a pop and ice cubes and a Big Mac along with a few menu items in graphic type fonts.

I was a bit confounded because at first, I couldn’t understand what was drawing me into the advertisement- then I remembered a well worn paperback book I have called Media Sexploitation by Wilson Bryan Key, sitting on a book shelf somewhere back home. That book is all about subliminal advertising and its photo section showing examples of ‘hidden words and symbols found in ice cubes’ has stayed with me. So I studied the McDonald’s ad again, this time paying special attention to the ice cubes and that’s when I saw it: “Sex”.

We’ve copied and enhanced a portion of the advertisement to help illustrate where the word “SEX” can be found. The left side of the image is unaltered and ‘as found’- this ad was much larger than can be shown here in our post and the ice cubes were easier to “read”. CP

Did you know? Subliminal advertising is banned in the UK and Australia but is legal for use anywhere except television and radio in the USA and Canada.

I turned to my 15 year old son- (the reason for the McDonald’s visit in the first place was to buy him an after- Summer Hockey root beer) and asked him if he could see the words “Sex” in the ice cubes. It didn’t take long for him to get excited because he saw it immediately.

That’s when the drive-thru line was getting ready to move ahead and I jumped out of the car, grabbed my iPhone and took the photograph you see above.

McDonald’s says they do not subliminally advertise– (from http://brainz.org/10-devious-banned-subliminal-ads/ )

“On January 27 2007, viewers watching the Food Network’s Iron Chef America may have noticed a brief flash of red that appeared for a split second towards the end of a show when the challengers’ entries were being assessed and two men raised their glasses. What had audiences seen but barely been aware of – all but invisible to the naked eye? A McDonald’s logo that popped up for a single frame together with the hamburger giant’s slogan, ‘I’m lovin’ it.’ Following the revelation, accusations of subliminal advertising were met with claims that it was a “technical error” by the television network, but skeptics unsurprisingly weren’t convinced. How could such a thing occur accidentally? A McDonald’s spokesman said: “We don’t do subliminal advertising.” Sure, just an accidental glitch – a supersized one. ”

So you be the judge- these drive-thru advertisements are probably found in most Southern Ontario McDonald’s drive-thrus and you can take a look for yourself. We’d love to hear back from you on what you find. For the Silo, Jarrod Barker

Supplemental- Subliminal Advertising leaves its mark on the brain http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/03/070308121938.htm

Subliminal Advertising FAQ’s http://www.sublimads.com/faq.html

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Subliminal Advertising In McDonald’s Ad Ice Cubes

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