Maybe they thought it was funny. Maybe they thought they could explain it away as part of the word bureaucrats but still get some buzz from it. They certainly got the buzz. My guess, however, is that the buzz will end up being negative. While professional advertising people don't use subliminal techniques, consumers suspect it, and they don't like it.
Nobody likes to be manipulated.
It also smacks of a Nixon-style dirty trick. One, big backfire, if you ask me. Cover up with a Salon T-shirt this summer. The terrifying skies, continued The same day Attorney General John Ashcroft blasts a leading airport security firm for hiring unqualified workers, the GOP insists on the private enterprise status quo.