I have just found out that the logo of the glass manufacturer is “etched” in the glass of my eyewear. It is not true of all glasses, but it is not unique to mine either. I think that many of the new rimless models have it. The way to find out is to breathe on the glass and look quickly while there is still fog on it, the logo stands out as if there was an anti fog treatment on it.
It is not visible otherwise and generally goes unnoticed. But I wonder if the eye perceives it in some way, in the same manner that it supposedly picks up subliminal messages. Do you recall the rumors that circulated a few years back about hidden messages inserted in movies to make people crave a certain soft drink? Then there were alleged messages in songs, that you deciphered if you played the tune backwards.
Rumor or not the fact remains that people who work in advertising know how to suggest a message without actually spelling it out…It is both fascinating and scary. Fascinating to see the variety of ads throughout the world, what they aim for and how they attempt to do attain it. But scary to think that we are being manipulated. Advertising does work! That means that it is possible to influence people’s behaviors, thousands at a time, without even meeting them.
Scarier still is the power of the media. They control what we know of every situation and that, in turn, shapes what we think. We got a good example of that with news reports from Iraq that gave very different versions depending on what country was doing the reporting. Through the internet we now can access information from all over…but everyone has an interest somewhere…
THAT bothers me because we have no choice but to rely on the media to keep us informed yet who can we trust?