Conspiracy Placement: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
[[File:subliminal.gif|link=GURPS
{{quote|''"[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v{{=}}iebtccYzhzw Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated!]"''|''[[Phineas and Ferb]]'' }}
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'''Conspiracy Placement''' is the tendency of fictional conspiracies to display hidden clues to their identity where they can be found by the heroes, like [[Product Placement]] only coming from an organization that by definition should be trying to ''avoid'' exposure. These clues are generally hidden well enough that they will not be spotted by the general public, but you have to wonder what the point is of having such clues at all. Sometimes the story will try to justify the existence of these clues, for example by saying that finding them is a test to gain membership of the group, or a way for conspirators to identify each other, but more often it just seems to be showing off.
This can be considered [[Truth in Television]], for a very loose definition of "Truth". [[Everyone Is Jesus in Purgatory|If you look hard enough]] you can find [[The Illuminati|Illuminati]] [https://web.archive.org/web/20131020080109/http://www.theforbiddenknowledge.com/greatseal/ symbols everywhere], or connect anyone you don't like to the number [[Number of the Beast|666]]. There are those who actually believe that real undiscovered, world-controlling conspiracies do this. [[Take That|They're called nuts.]]
May overlap with [[Sigil Spam]] if the logo placement becomes ''really'' excessive.
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* VFD does this compulsively in ''[[A Series of Unfortunate Events]]''.
* The ''[[Illuminatus]]! Trilogy'' uses this in multiple places as part of its unholy [[Mind Screw]]. For example [[Landmarking the Hidden Base]] by hiding the Illuminati headquarters under the UN Headquarters in Manhattan, and sending a insulting message to ex-allies in a rock song.{{spoiler|fnord}}
* ''[[The Crying of Lot 49]]'' by [[Thomas Pynchon]] features a secretive underground postal service (which may or may not actually exist) who are apparently more concerned with spray painting their logo on every wall than they actually are with delivering the mail!
* Parodied with ''[[The Areas of My Expertise]]'', where "hobo signs" were really a secret signaling system for the hobo revolution.
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* Pops up in many, ''[[The World of Darkness]]'' variants:
** ''[[Hunter: The Reckoning]]'' and ''[[Promethean: The Created]]'' both use sigils based roughly on "hobo signs" for subtle communication. For the Prometheans, this makes a bit more sense, as a) their condition requires them to constantly be on the move, and b) they have powers that can make the sigils glow for other Prometheans.
** ''[[Geist: The Sin Eaters]]'' has the Twilight Network, a constructed method of communication between Sin-Eaters that relies on web pages, stray radio transmissions, street flyers, and whatever means are available.
== Toys ==
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** Played with in some instances. ''[[War for Cybertron]]'' Megatron has the gears and panels on his back form the Decepticon logo. It's not immediately obvious. Optimus has his faction on his back too, though his is even less obvious. Also, Vector Prime's head is shaped like the Autobot insignia.
==
* ''[[Conspiracy Theory]]'', unsurprisingly.
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== [[Web Comics]] ==
* In ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'' Chilus's K'Z'K cult is "a secret society trained to hide in the shadows until the perfect moment to strike!" Exceupt, y'know, [https://web.archive.org/web/20150113084003/http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=050815 for every member having the cult's symbol prominently tattooed on their body].
{{quote|'''Chilus:''' It makes them feel like they belong.}}
** Also, Hereti-Corp displays their logo prominently on all their gear and pizza restaurants, justified in order to lure out Oasis, who is programmed to kill anyone wearing it.
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* The "[[Jesus]] fish" symbol commonly found on cars was originally used by early Christian congregations (we're talking thousands of years ago here.) The Greek word for "fish", "ikthus", happens to form an acronym that translates to "Jesus Christ, God's son, savior." Christianity was persecuted back then, so the churches placed the fish symbol on buildings around town: members of the congregation knew to follow these to the current secret meeting place, while those not in the loop just thought someone was doing fish graffiti.
** And for identifying each other, dragging a foot through the dust in a curve, then having the other person continue it into a fish.
* Also in [[Real Life]], organised crime and hate groups have a tradition of "secret handshakes" and codewords, including the Ku Klux Klan tendency to turn K's and C's in words into KL's.
* But the Crips and the Bloods avoid their respective enemies' names' first two letters when talking, among other [[Color Coded for Your Convenience|more obvious identifiers.]]
* According to [[Urban Legend]] (aside from the illuminati symbols), gangs use different methods to mark turf an membership from sneakers thrown on telephone wires to air-fresheners in cars. Of course, seeing what the police can make of [[
* There's a [[Conspiracy Theory]] that claims an fake [[Alien Invasion]] will happen during the 2012 London Olympics, panicking everyone into a state of emergency and giving up our freedoms so that the [[One World Order|New World Order]] can [[Take Over the World]]. The evidence? The [[wikipedia:2012 Summer Olympics#Logo|logo]] can be rearranged to spell "ZION", and the [[wikipedia:2012 Summer Olympics#Mascots|mascot-things]] look like aliens.
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[[Category:Speculative Fiction Tropes]]
[[Category:The Index Is Watching You]]
[[Category:
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