This will be my final note on this subject, as it is inappropriate for the list. Alex writes in support of subliminal seduction: Alex, there have been numerous studies on the subject, which I summarized in my previous email (and you ignored). Go look it up for yourself if you don't believe me. My degree is in psych, perceptual psych. I know whereof I speak. Subliminal seduction does not have a statistically significant effect. If you are predisposed to see penises and breasts, you see them. There are ice-cubes in booze ads because (surprise!) you put ice-cubes in booze! Artists jokes appear in work all the time. Apple's Newton has several of them. Most of the anime films I subtitle have them in them. It is human nature, and part of the creative process, which is why it is tolerated. "SS" is a powerful myth, but tons of studies have shown that it has the same validity as "Gerbilling." I'm not saying it hasn't been tried, it most surely has. What I am saying is that most people in the Ad industry know it's bullshit. A much more powerful effect, if you're going to airbrush, would be to correct images so they present the right cues to the reader. An example would be making sure that that smiling girl is presenting Duchenne's marker (a subtle difference typified by involuntary contraction of the pars lateralis eye muscle that signifies a true happy smile, as opposed to a fake or a social smile). See SCIENCE, Vol 262, Pg 336 for a fascinating report on this -- learning how to contract this muscle and smile true happy smiles can actually make you feel happy!