Subliminal messages?

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador raised a few more eyebrows last week by alleging several Mexican companies ran ads, containing subliminal messages, that subtly encouraged voters to back the National Action Party (PAN).

The proof: Sabritas, a unit of Pepsi, placed an ad with a character boasting of "clean hands." The PAN campaign coined the expression: "Manos Limpias," and candidate Felipe Calderon would press his hands, palms outward, towards audiences at rallies - an act that inferred he had nothing to hide.

Jumex also caught flack for using a blue background in an ad. (Blue is associated with the PAN.)

More than a few advertisers had fun with the election campaign. A sports balm manufacturer pitched a pain rub with the slogan: "Pinche Madrazo." Roberto Madrazo, a man with a sordid reputation for hardball politics, headed the disastrous PRI campaign. In Spanish, a madrazo is a jolt or bruise. (The word comes from "madre," which signifies a lot of rotten things in Spanish when used colloquially.) Pinche is a cuss word akin to damn.

Perhaps Lopez Obrador should step back from this allegation. It risks making him look foolish.