Last but not least: Rorschach test reloaded
Pictures of the Rorschach test are popular subjects in the advertising world. Every few years, a smudged, symmetrical blob of ink appears in an advertisement. Why is that? Advertising Week knows.
The psychologization of society is progressing. The relevant magazines are booming, psychotests in the colorful press and on equally colorful websites are popular. Of course, this development does not stop at advertising: the Rorschach test, invented by a Swiss psychiatrist in 1921, is at least a popular stylistic element in commercial communication. Ogilvy Interactive uses it to advertise Alfa Romeo. The creative youngsters used the psychological diagnostic tool in an entry for this year's "Only an ad can do that" competition. And a look at advertising history shows that the color blobs, which are controversial among psychologists, were already used in a car ad in 2006: JWT+H+F used them to advertise Mazda. And at the time, it was not the first creative workshop to use the motif for advertising. Why might that be? Are the inkblots such universal symbols as the shape of a heart, the Statue of Liberty or the Egyptian pyramids? Maybe it's simply because of all the psychology drop-outs who have dropped out of university and are now working in agencies. JWT+H+F for Mazda:
Ogilvy Interactive for Alfa Romeo:
