Go out and ask a bunch of your friends whether or not they have a preference for Coke and Pepsi. Some people say they taste the same, but most people will say they can taste the difference. Ask your friends if they think the subtle meanings portrayed in each brands advertising has affected the way they feel about the drink. Inevitably, they will say no. Inevitably, they will say that the only thing that affects the way they feel about the product is the way it tastes. Ask them what they think about the fact that each of these companies spend more time and money on advertising than they do on anything else, and they will inevitably say that the advertising has no affect on them. And of course they would think that because the effect is unconscious.

You probably have some vague memory of the ads you’ve seen over the years for these products. Scantly clad, young attractive guys and girls in the prime of their fertile lives. Usually in party or holiday mode. Socializing. Relaxing. Wearing the latest trends in fashion, looking cool, and having flirtatious fun.

Consciously, there is not much going on, but branding doesn’t work in our conscious mind. And our unconscious mind sees a very different meaning here. These advertisers aim to activate the deeper part of the brain which is often referred to as the ‘reptilian’ brain. It controls many of our basic animal instincts that our conscious mind has little awareness of. And those animal instincts see those images and create some very strong meanings around them. To put it simply, those ads tell our unconscious mind that if we associate with their brand, we will fit in with the cool kids and become more socially and sexually desirable. From a primitive tribal prospective, that means our offspring will be more protected by the tribe and have a better chance of survival.

Actually, Coke started it, but because our animal tribal instinct tells us to fit in with a pack, then all Pepsi had to do was something very similar but in a way we perceive it as opposite (i.e. blue is the opposite of red). Now the message becomes this, try to fit in with the Coke tribe, but if you can’t, then at least fit in with the Pepsi tribe instead. If you can fit in, you’ll feel a greater sense of self-worth. And as Stuart experienced during his running years, there are few things that drive us with as much power as a sense of self worth.

Of course, through conscious eyes, this all seems kind of absurd. Were intelligent, logical, rational and sophisticated humans. Not dumb animals, right? And even if we did feel that way when we see those ads, we would realize it wouldn’t we?

All the advertisers have to do is trigger you to have very subtle feelings. So subtle, that you don’t even realize that they are there. Its the repetition of those subtle feelings that programs your unconscious mind to create the meaning. You see those messages all the time throughout your whole life. And at some point, eventually, you’re going to feel a desire to fit in with the cool kids (especially during your adolescent years). And in those moments, your uncurious mind has already primed you to associate those feelings with certain brands through all those repetitious messages you thought nothing of at the time.

The take home message is that they still have to make a product that tastes at least reasonably good of course. But remember, the taste is only part of it. The rest is in the psychology of how the brands are marketed to manipulate the feelings and meanings we attach to them which distorts how we think they taste.

So if advertisers can trick our brain into making us prefer their products, then how can we take back the power and control? As a therapist, many people come to me saying, “I just wished you could trick my brain."