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Read the two articles below quickly. Then choose the best title for each article.
Everyone makes mistakes, or so the saying goes. But have you ever heard about mistakes in Hollywood? When most people think of Hollywood, they think of blockbusters (very successful movies), high-paid actors, glitz, and glamour. But according to one Web site, many Hollywood movies are full of mistakes. Some are technical errors. For instance, in a scene of the science-fiction adventure film The Matrix, when the main character steps out of his car, the viewer can clearly see the camera crew in the car window. In another scene, the same character is typing on his computer, yet the computer screen is blank. Other movie mistakes are historical. For example, the epic Gladiator is known for having lots of historical errors. Throughout the movie, the gladiator Maximus refers to his home in Spain, and the other characters call him "the Spaniard." However, in 180 A.D., when the movie takes place, Spain as a country or even as a concept didn't exist yet. At another point in the movie, Maximus says that his homeland of Spain has "the best horses." But horses weren't brought to the Iberian Peninsula until the invasion of the Moors (North Africans) in 711 A.D, more than 500 years after the movie takes place. The historical drama Titanic, another Oscar winner, also has its share of historical blunders. The Titanic sunk in the year 1912. So why is one of the characters wearing a digital watch? In fact, movie watchers have found over 100 mistakes in The Matrix, Gladiator, and Titanic. Can you think of any errors in your favorite films?
How susceptible are you to advertising? Has a TV commercial or magazine ad ever made you buy the product that was advertised? If so, perhaps you have experienced subliminal advertising. Subliminal advertising is a kind of advertising that appeals to the subconscious. The word "subliminal" comes from the Latin "sub" meaning "lower," "beneath," or "under," and "limen," meaning "threshold," (the level at which something begins to happen). Thus, subliminal advertising stimulates your brain at a level below conscious perception. You cannot see, hear, or perceive subliminal ads, but they may affect you just the same. There are two main types of subliminal ads. The first involves flashing messages quickly during a commercial or film. The messages appear and disappear so rapidly that the mind cannot process them consciously, but it might receive them passively, at a subconscious level. James Vicary, a market researcher, first introduced this kind of subliminal advertising in 1957 when he flashed the words "Eat Popcorn" and "Drink Coca-Cola" every five seconds during a movie. The messages couldn't be seen, yet Vicary claimed that the moviegoers' brains could perceive them: Coke sales went up by 18% and popcorn sales by over 50%. More recently, the same type of subliminal advertising was used in a negative ad for a political campaign. In the ad, the word "rats" flashed up briefly during the part of the ad describing one party's healthcare plan. The purpose was to associate that opposing party with the negative word "rats." The second kind of subliminal advertising involves hiding or incorporating images into visual advertisements. Although studies show that consumers believe strongly in the power of subliminal ads, no one can prove the effects of subliminal advertising. Psychologists and others who study subliminal stimuli have not been able to show that subliminal advertising actually works. Many advertising researchers believe that traditional ads, in which a powerful image is used to sell a product, are more effective than subliminal advertising. All the same, it still remains a controversial topic, one that is on the mind of buyers and sellers alike.
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