ABSTRACT
Like graffiti, advertising has moved a long way from simply imparting direct information messages. Advertising and graffiti often have succinct, clever messages that are not direct statements of information. Advertising for many product categories, such as soft drink, beer, confectionery, or perfume is dominated by ads that appear to have very little message. In the venerable TV series Sesame Street, messages are embedded in entertainment. Messages such as 'cooperation' and 'sharing' are communicated through drama and song. A subsidiary objective of the ad was to have the brand seen as 'modern and up-to-date' and 'a brand of today'. This was not expressed in words but was to be inferred from other pieces of information as well as ad's tone, pace and fast-cut visuals. The cues that advertisers use at the point of sale, such as pack design, and so on, are designed to remind the verbal messages or to retrigger the visual associations that have been communicated by the ad.
