Advertisments Entropy | 18 Dec 2010
Mind’s Eye
Subliminal Ad Sears BMW’s Logo Into Your Mind’s Eye
An ingenious flashbulb effect lets BMW burn an “afterimage” that people see with their eyes closed. Watch and see (but don’t worry, the effect can’t hack your brain over YouTube):
BMW just rigged a cutout of their initials in front of a standard-issue Profoto Pro 7B flash unit, set the thing to pop off behind a German cinema screen at a key moment, and voila!: dystopian mental brandvertising!
Basically, the photoreceptor cells in your retinas lose sensitivity after being overstimulated — so if you flash ‘em and then close your eyes (or look at any blank surface, like a wall or piece of paper), the cells corresponding to the flashed image will send out weak signals to your brain in comparison to the unflashed cells, which signal normally.
Result? A reverse-color “cutout” of the letters B-M-W hovering in your visual field. Thanks a lot, science.