Here’s a bit of fun to distract you from your mid-week blahs:

The idea of “subliminal advertising” is a controversial one, with some folk claiming it definitely works, and others (many of whom are psychologists and doctors, mind you) claiming that it has no long term effect on anyone’s behavior.

Regardless of where you personally sit on the issue, there are certainly MANY people out there that do believe in its efficacy (though whether or not that in and of itself might make one more susceptible to it than those that don’t believe, I don’t know – but it’s an interesting thought to ponder nonetheless). Still, regardless of that, we certainly have ample evidence that most people are susceptible to various types of imagery and the other staples of the marketing and advertising realms. And because we know that, there are different “tricks” employed in marketing that we, as business owners and entrepreneurs, all use every day when trying to get the word out about our products or services, whether we’re making a new banner ad, composing a new sales letter, or tweaking that AdWords copy just a little bit more to boost the CTR.

But even though most people are aware that advertising is designed to influence behavior, that doesn’t make them immune to it – and that goes for advertisers themselves, too.

So here comes the fun I mentioned.

Earlier today, I was reminded of the video below, and thought I’d share. This is a segment from an old British TV show called “Mind Control,” with a man named Derren Brown. Derren’s a mentalist (and illusionist, but I’m not showing you one of his illusions this time around), and quite good at it. In this segment, he demonstrates how even the people that advertise for a living can be heavily influenced without being aware of it.