Visuals speak. A thousand words, or even more.

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Visuals speak. A thousand words, or even more.

But are we able to hear what they say? And do we really understand what they say? Rhetoric is the art of persuading the audience, with written or verbal arguments, or using any other means of communication. These other means of communication are non-verbal - using expressions, gestures, mannerisms, and images or visuals, and are sometimes more effective than verbal, textual, written communication. A gesture, a raised eyebrow, a wink, or a closed fist could be more effective than a lot of words.

In a previous post in this blog, I have written about how we form an opinion about an object or a person in a single glance. In that single glance, we perceive, recognize and also form an opinion. How fast is this process? Experiments have proven that it could be as fast as a fraction of a second. But otherwise, there is also a longer process, that of the cortical pathway in the brain, which recalls and matches images, and the meanings they convey from resident memory in the cortex. Though not directly related, it could be the sleeper effect that affects the way we treat the visual, and behave accordingly. The sleeper effect postulates that when exposed to a persuasive message, over time, we tend to forget the source, but start believing that the message was true.

The brain stores the visual which is seen just for a fraction of a second, and is recalled subconsciously. Advertisers have been using this technique to persuade us to buy a product, sometimes even when we don't need to. This is done by using subliminal advertising, sometimes subtle, and sometimes blatantly in-the-face. This technique was first described in 1957, and though it turned out to be a hoax at that time, it is in use very regularly in advertising.

I was channel surfing in the evening, and came across an Akshay Kumar film - Holiday - a soldier is never off duty. While trying to decipher a coded message from a paper he finds on a terrorist, he first uses an Apple Macbook Pro laptop - the Apple logo is shown clearly, and then uses Google Maps for Mobile (on his Mac Pro - not on his mobile!) to identify the locations on the map of Mumbai. Even AajTak and Times now is shown clearly. Ok, you could say that it is coincidental, that he does uses all this. But remember, when you spend crores when making a movie, every shot is PLANNED. Let's discuss this phenomenon in the next update.

I am sure you must have noticed such advertising several times in Hindi movies. Can you name a few?

Check out : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzOkUP5H7f0

40.23 mins Apple and Google
1.05.52 AaajTak
1.07 Times Now


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