To live this disconcerting experience, you have to go to Hong Kong, China, and stand in front of a billboard with a minimalist visual, that of the new KFC advertising campaign created by the Edelman Hong Kong agency.
The poster features tight black vertical lines and an enigmatic message, also printed in black, asking curious passers-by to shake their heads. Then, for the more patient and headache-resistant, an image of French fries emerging from a box appears, accompanied by the text "fing fing", fing meaning to shake in Cantonese.
A fun, interactive way is used to promote the fast-food chain's latest product: French fries accompanied by a sachet of spicy seasoning that you shake onto the fries.
The use of Op Art here is a clever way of holding the audience's attention, as the time allowed for reading the message far exceeds the usual few seconds.
This poster campaign uses the phenomenon of optical illusions, Op Art (for Optical Art), known since the 1960s. The movement created by very precise, generally monochrome geometries is purely optical, due to physiological reactions of visual perception. Optical effects and illusions enable Op Art to create visual riddles.
