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Subliminal Advertising through Colour
With special reference to green variants

All art and design affects the mind below the threshold of consciousness, and colour can be exquisitely effective in doing this. So long as one avoids the illegal subliminal filmic effect of inserting a virtually invisible message frame within an otherwise unrelated sequence of shots, then all other subliminal effects are perfectly legal and sometimes capable of being very powerful.

The subliminal power of colour derives from the fact that most people do not think consciously about colour, just react with a “Wow”, “Huh”, or “Ugh”. In technical terms, ones appreciation of colour is emotional or affective rather than intellectual or cognitive. (By contrast, it is different with shapes. The mind immediately attempts to recognise a shape as conveying information, whether it is the silhouette of a friend, a letter of the alphabet, or a road sign, for example. These embody cognitive ideas).

To give some idea of how colour is used to bring out subliminal effects, the following coloured wrappings for sweets and soaps have been illustratred with suggestions as to the unconscious sensations each colour may be attempting to evoke, summing up in a possible subliminal ‘song’ for each!

The effects described rest on statistical majority reactions to four variants of green. This comes from clinical studies, but also from historical records over hundreds of years.

Percentage accuracy

About ten percent of males have defective colour vision and a very small percentage of females also have defective vision. A further small percentage of people may be conditioned by unusual colour associations to react differently from the majority. This latter may be much smaller than might be expected, on account of what Jungian psychologists describe as colour archetypes. In fact, the affect value of the above is likely to be in the region of 85 %.

Greens

The greens here, as with all hues in packaging, sing out in a ‘language’ that goes beyond words. Colours are assimilated by those parts of the mind that make quick instinctive decisions. The same applies to all the other colours.

The other colours

To carry this line of thinking further, turn to Psychological Colour Symbolism under The Humanities and work out the subliminal colour messages for all the other colours. We will be especially interested in seeing your results. For the effects of more than one colour at a time in colour families and contrasts, see Aesthetics of Colour under Humanities.

Sweets

1 Citrus yellow-Green

Citrus Sweets

The high stimulus citric greens in the context of sweets are as if singing:

“Suck these pastilles and your taste-buds will come alive with the zing of lemon and lime”

2 ‘Amplitude’ Green

Rich Mint Chocolate Bar

This fully saturated Emerald Green round the outside of the label is a colour carrying the symbolism of something most richly full, like all those effects in Nature that are most prolific, voluminous and fertile. When you devour this rather grand and luxurious Creme de Menth chocolate, its subliminal song might go something like this:

“Indulge in this Right Royal feast!”

3 Astringent pale Viridian

Menthol sweets

Viridian is usually seen as acrisp, clean and precise green, having a good precision of focus on the retina of the eye. That is to say it can be seen more clearly and accurately than many other colours. It is as if a more aqueous green than the others - sometimes called Sea Green. It invites you, as it were, to recuperate with a dose of menthol, as if it is singing:

“Bring your senses back to life !”

4 The Green of Satiety, Olive Green

Peppermint Cream chocolate bar

Olive is a colour often associated with deep satisfaction, having a rich depth and resonance of hue. Here it is a particularly dark and subdued colour. However, your inner ear may just be able to hear some such sentiment as:

“Let this creamy fondant-centred chocolate melt in your mouth !”

Soaps

5 Citric Yellow-Green

Citrus Soap

The citric yellow-greens in the advertisiing of soaps are as if singing an invitation to have a really stimulating shower. In this context the colour is singing perhaps:

“I’ll make your skin tingle !”

6 ‘Amplitude’ Emerald Green

Apple Soap

The fully saturated emerald green around the label has the symbolism one would expect of the fuller greens of Nature. In this case, it invites, as it were, a sensuous bath-time, seeming to sing out some such feeling tone as might be conveyed by such sentiments as:

“This will invigorate and allow you to blossom!”

7 Astringent Viridian

Refreshing Soap

Viridian, the crisp and clean-looking colour with good focussing properties, sometimes having watery connotations. Here it seems to be offering to:

“Tone up and nourish your skin with this soap’s re-vitalising fragrance. It will give you real pride in yourself, boosting your grace, elegance, dignity and poise !”

8 The Olive Green of Satiety

Olive Soap with Palm Oil

Here again is the Olive green that has a rich depth and resonance, often associated with deep satisfaction. Here the label has been placed on an olive green ground to encouage it to express subliminally the idea that the buyer deserves a long relaxing soak. It invites:

“Wallow in our comforting foam !”

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