Remember that whole episode when Coke reportedly saw higher sales after they repeatedly flashed the words "Drink Coke" for fractions of a second while a movie was playing?  Not sure if it was ever actually proved that this sneaky advertising tactic had boosted sales, but almost every commercial we see - or even communciaiton we're exposed to, has several levels of messaging... not to mention the abundant evidence in one of the biggest industries keeping marketing alive and well: Politics! (political speeches are peppered with words that evoke a positive reaction/ emotion in crowds (there is actually a list of words that fit the bill!)).

But I recently saw commercial that used this technique in an awesome manner, creating literally a brand image, in black space.  The marketer is BMW  (tho I do have a major grouse with them - another post!) - and here is the story on how they made their (captive) audience actually "see" the BMW letters in their mind's eye.  All aided by a projector!



Arguably, we don't know how suited this is for mass media like the television or even the web... or to what extent the "sighting" is impacted by the already strong unaided recall their logo enjoys... but even so - hard not to be impressed!