Way back in time, before glossy magazines were overshadowed by the web, fancy watch advertisements often showed their hands pointing to a particular time: 10:10.
Why 10:10 you ask?
Researchers recently sought to answer that question.
Since the 1950s, analog watch advertisements commonly showed times set at 10:10, while a search in galleries showed that in earlier decades, such as the 1920s and 1930s, 8:20 had been the default setting. Both times had the aesthetic advantage of being symmetrical and not overshadowing logos. So why the switch?
Researchers at Frontiers in Psychology aimed to understand the reason for this. Why would advertisers choose 10:10 in particular? Does that time elicit a stronger emotional response? Would it compel more customers to buy? Looking at the hands of the watch, they hypothesized 10:10 resembled a smiling face somewhat more than 8:20, which seems to offer a frown. They dove in and pulled past studies to support this theory….