The speaker, Martine Isaac, wrapped up his talk. The presentation was about subliminal messaging to an audience. The focus was on his black jacket, which shimmered slightly and stood out from the rest of his outfit. Maybe no one would have noticed the jacket, but Martine was introduced as Martine Isaac and his zebra coat. What was the point of mentioning the coat?
Whispers echoed through the auditorium during the talk:
Was Zebra the brand name of the coat? Was it a status symbol to have a zebra coat?
Did anyone see the lining? Maybe it was zebra-striped.
What if it was actually made from a zebra and then dyed black? Was it made from a striped zebra? Could an animal be a zebra if it didn’t have stripes? Was there a secret society of people who wear zebra coats?
Martine’s talk concluded with, “Any questions? I’m guessing there is only one question.”
A hand in the front row shot up before the others. “What’s the deal with the coat?”
“Ah, I could have guessed that would be the question,” Martine said. “Now I’d like to ask the audience: What was the point of my talk? What did you get out of it?”
No one in the audience yelled out an answer.
“Please answer this question with a show of hands. Who is craving Doritos right now?”
Tentatively, everyone in the audience looked at one another and then raised their hands in unison.
Martine smiled, “My talk was about subliminal messaging. While you were focused on the coat, I was focused on making you want to buy Doritos.”
Martine walked offstage without explaining anything about the coat.