Colgate Shows the Power of Insecurities

Almost everyone is familiar with the embarrassment of a friend letting you know there's something stuck in your teeth. Having something stuck in your teeth makes us insecure because when holding a conversation you are typically making eye contact and it is inevitable that someone is going to see your left over lunch. More importantly, you are expected to take care of your mouth and having something in your teeth is associated with being dirty. Colgate released a series of print advertisements that points out the importance of flossing with images like these:

Both images show clearly something stuck in the teeth of the two men, however, the print draws your attention to a much more interesting fact. When first looking at the advertisement the eye is naturally drawn to the food that is glaring the audience right in the face. The print points out that there are much bigger issues in these two photos. The photo on the top the woman's hand has six fingers and the print reads: Not even a six fingered hand gets more attention than a mouth without care. In the bottom picture the hand on the man's shoulder seems to be coming out of thin air, as the woman's arms are clearly at her side. It's interesting that Colgate had the awareness to put in this photoshop mishaps with the confidence that the audience would notice the lack of flossing first. This is a great way to present a relatable issue to an audience.