Rather than subversive you're saying they're being extremely subtle and working on our sub-conscious minds so that we're not even consciously aware of it.  That's what I was getting at with the mention of George Clooney and any other celebrity - the celebrity is ONLY there to make you remember the ad and to talk about it.  It's not what's IN the ad that counts, it's whether or not you remember it that counts. 

Along with what you said in this last post, they know that for some things ANY publicity is good for them because the ones who wouldn't have bought it anyway don't matter, but more of the other people get to hear about it.  Some people might not like George Clooney so they refuse to buy that product, but for most people the seed has been planted even if they see the ad and scoff and say, "They must be dumb if they think I believe GC drinks it, or that I'll drink it just because he does."  I wouldn't have a clue what brand he drinks but that's probably because I don't drink tea or coffee and it's pretty much water coffee off a duck's back where I'm concerned.

Packaging doesn't make much difference to some of us but how many of us only buy the plain brand stuff?  To some people the packet is more important than the contents!

I didn't watch your video link because it'd use way too much of my downloads.  If I get a chance to I'll watch it though.

A friend told me two or three years ago that a lot of writers are now paid to advertise particular products in their novels, eg. "I had a headache so I took a Disprin" (or whatever particular brand name is being pushed - and they specify the brand).  I haven't seen that because I don't read many novels but she said she's seen in it a lot of books in recent years.

The big question is, what can I do to market my ebay items more successfully?  One brother in law used to be Marketing Manager at Rowntrees but I rarely see him and he's never been interested in helping me anyway.  I do know that the people with the highest prices are often the most successful - the more you push yourself forward the more sales you seem to get.  Maybe I need to put my prices up again!

I didn't watch Gruen but I saw one bit that I found interesting (and definitely true) but I can't remember what it was now.