Thank you for your detailed response! While there certainly are cultural differences in marketing and advertising, what I’m talking about in this article are basic facets of human nature that transcend cultures. We’re all human, and we all function this way.

The examples you point out are great ads, and they do succeed in pulling consumers in and gaining their conscious attention. But my point is that the vast majority of ads never reach this level — not even close. The problem is that consumers ignore nearly all advertising, but advertisers and marketers spend most of their time and effort trying to gain conscious attention and on the conscious message. But in the vast majority of cases that is futile, as consumers do not pay attention to the vast majority of ads. You’re pointing out the tip of the iceberg ads that are able to gain that kind of attention, but most do not.

So, I still think it’s worth it for advertisers to try to get conscious attention, because when it works it’s probably the most powerful form of communication. But, they should realize that this is highly unlikely, and so they should also be aware of what their ads are communicating unconsciously, as that is the far more likely scenario, and what is pulled in by the unconscious is likely to remain in unconscious memory and may even influence our behavior more.

If you’re interested, I have a chapter dedicated to attention in my book, Brand Seduction.