Crimp this subliminal Ad

This is the first post of my new category …while in the shower. Why, well who doesn’t have those occasional profound thoughts in the shower?
Metaphorical of course, it just means these posts are all about those random creative ideas I have during the day while doing something maybe unrelated. Some people might take their temperature to measure their level of health, but mine is measure of how many if any creative thoughts that pop up without me actively trying.

For instance, the other day I was climbing with a friend, and though I am at the gym a lot, I never closely observe, but do glaze over the climbing holds, subconsciously noticing the sparsely placed logos such as “So ILL”.

(These logos are all of the climbing hold companies). However, if I saw those imprinted logos anywhere else, I would instantly recognize them and rack my brain, where did I see that!! Eventually I would figure it out. What if, instead of just advertising themselves, they imprinted such subliminal logos or other simple ads of other targeted outdoor/active/sports companies onto their climbing holds. When I climb, I focus on one thing, getting to the next hold, and if at some point I sit there, breathing hard, pondering my next move, I might be staring straight at a hold maybe containing “Mountain Hardware” or “REI”. I may not actually think about my next trip to “REI”, but I still see the logo amidst this uniquely heightened sense of concentration.

I think this sort of subliminal ad placement would be even more beneficial for startups who want to get their name out there. And the imprinted logos are not distracting, same color as the hold. Look at this example: can you see the name “rock candy” in the top left of the hold? Barely, right, but it’s there. And if you climb a lot, the reinforcement works.

Not a bad idea… now how much should a hold-making company charge for it?? I’ll leave that up to the MBAs

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