I remember in Marketing class they taught us about "Herb the Nerd". In the 1980's Burger King was expanding and as part of this came a big advertising campaign

I remember in Marketing class they taught us about "Herb the Nerd". In the 1980's Burger King was expanding and as part of this came a big advertising campaign centered around a nerdy-looking guy called Herb, who was the only person who hadn't been to a Burger King. If you could spot him in a Burger King restaurant, you could win money. It was a colossal failure, and instead of increasing customer volume, ended up having the opposite effect and decreasing it. Why? Because the overt message of "Herb the Nerd" <-> "The only person who hasn't gone to Burger King" was shortened in people's minds to "... Nerd" <-> "... Burger King". It's fascinating: indirect/subtext messaging will beat direct messaging every time.