This is an advert by the fashion brand Sisley advertising their products are as addictive as drugs. The advertisement has shown women indulged in the act of snorting cocaine and the dress has been arranged to appear as the drug. Even Sisley is already well known for making shocking advertisements to promote its brand image, yet this 'fashions equal drugs' advertisement seems to go too far over the line.
As illegal drugs are considered to be forbidden, criminality and life threatening, we will filter these "negative" information out if we see it on adverts.This is to protect ourselves from ideas or objects that are threatening to us. This cognitive process is known as perceptual defense.
In a study conducted by Blum (1964), subjects were given a perceptual task with pictures( threatening stimulus) that disgust subjects' conscious mind. The result of the study showed avoidance response and repression elicited subliminally by subjects reacting to threatening stimulus.
Godfrey Leung
Blum, G.S. (1964). Perceptual defense revisited. The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 51, 24-29.
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