You have to smile at the pseudo-earnestness of turning a serious study about inattentional blindness into an advertising pitch. The idea by Splendid Communications is that inattention blindness is causing the nation to lose money on phone deals. The serious study showed that 74% of UK adults now experience inattentional blindness. The irony is that being “glued” to phones is surely exacerbating that.

The campaign highlight is a giant (nearly 19 square metres) magic eye billboard in London. Its hidden message, Seeing things more clearly?, can only be read when viewed from certain angles, making it intriguing and highlighting how people are missing things right in front of their eyes.

The study was initiated by giffgaff, and backed by leading neuroscientist Professor Hana Burianova finds that three quarters (74%) of UK adults now experience inattentional blindness, preventing people from seeing things right in front of their eyes due to their mind being distracted by other factors. The campaign extrapolates that as a result of inattentional blindness, people continue to pay their bills without realising they could be missing out on a much more competitive deal elsewhere.

The study showed that 22% of drivers have arrived at a destination with no memory of how they even got there and 15% have driven through a red light. It also revealed that one in four (24%) UK adults claim not to have noticed their bills increasing due to paying them on autopilot, and that less than half the nation (40%) were aware that many mobile phone network providers had increased their prices in April, and more than one in ten (12%) haven’t checked their phone bill in the last 6 months.