The archive · Advertising · Marketing decision · 2023
Visionworks hides an eye test in shrinking subtitles only 20/20 vision can finish
Visionworks' US film ads are spoken in German or Japanese, with subtitles that shrink like a Snellen eye chart — the last line needs 20/20 vision to read.
Visionworks
What it had to solve
Visionworks wanted to give people an eye test they would not tune out. The commercials run exclusively in the United States but are performed entirely in another language, so the primarily English-speaking audience has to read subtitles to follow the story.
How it works
Visionworks, an optical retail brand, needed an eye test that people would not tune out. Ads about eye exams are easy to ignore, but a film told in a language the audience cannot follow without subtitles demands attention.
The solution embedded the diagnostic in the medium. 'Bed Test' plays as Japanese horror performed entirely in Japanese, and 'Bomb Test' plays as a 70s action movie performed entirely in German — both running exclusively in the United States, so viewers must read the subtitles to understand the story.
The twist is that the subtitles get increasingly smaller as the story progresses, mimicking the structure of a traditional Snellen eye test. The last subtitle requires 20/20 vision to read, so by the end of the commercial viewers have taken an eye test without realizing one was happening.
Visionworks called it the world's first eye test within a commercial. The work is held in the D&AD awards archive under Film, which records no view or booking figures.
Why it lands
- Forcing viewers to read subtitles turns passive watching into an active visual task, so the eye test is disguised as entertainment.
- Shrinking the type mirrors a real Snellen chart, making the ad itself the same instrument an optometrist uses.
- Foreign-language genres like Japanese horror and German action films keep English-speaking viewers locked into reading rather than just listening.
- The reveal only happens at the end, so the test is finished before the audience knows it was being tested.
What it did
The medium gives people an eye test they did not realize was happening until it was over — billed as the world's first eye test within a commercial. The work is held in the D&AD awards archive under Film, which records no view or booking figures.
What you can take
Borrow the structure of the diagnostic you are selling: when the format itself forces participation, the audience experiences the product's purpose instead of just hearing about it.
Since then
Visionworks' 'Subtitles' campaign gave the world's first eye test within a commercial: two films, 'Bed Test' in Japanese-horror style and 'Bomb Test' in 70s-action style, performed entirely in Japanese and German while running exclusively in the United States. Because the English-speaking audience needs subtitles to follow the story, the progressively shrinking captions — modeled on a Snellen eye test — forced viewers to read smaller and smaller type until the last subtitle demanded 20/20 vision. The work is held in the D&AD awards archive under Film, which records no view or booking figures.
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