I've noticed for years that every advertisement for a clock or watch ALWAYS has
the hour hand on 10 and the minute hand on 2. This holds
true for print ads, online ads, TV ad's, etc.Nobody's ever been able to explain
why this is a universally used constant/standard.
The different theories are as under:-
- This was the time of day when Abraham Lincoln was shot or the time when he
died. This is a fascinating explanation, but there isn't a shred of evidence for it
(and, in fact, Lincoln was shot at 10:15 PM, and died
the next morning at 7:22). Exactly the same myth is sometimes reported
with John F. Kennedy or Martin Luther King as the person being
memorialized in the clock ads.
2.In second world war American dropped their atom bomb onHiroshima &
Nagasaki. The first bomb was dropped at 10:10 AM. In remembrance of all
the victims, all unused clocks or the clocks which are presented in
show-cases have the same time of 10:10.
3.The hands look like theclock has a 'smile'on its face instead of a frown and it frames
the manufacturer's trademark if it is printed just above the center pipe.
Some manufacturers have displayed their clock hands at 3:00 and 9:00.
Yet, the hands of a displayed clock usually are not set to cover each
another or are they placed in straight lines such as 12:30 or 9:15.
According to a reliable source, the reason is purely aesthetic. A watch
reading 10:10 has a clean, symmetrical look. Also, the hands don't
obscure the watchmaker insignia.
The consensus of opinion (confirmed by Timex) is that clock and watch hands in
advertisements are typically set at 10:10 so that the company's logo
will be well-displayed. In addition, this position of the hands
resembles a smile.
"Timex says that the hands on a clock are placed at10:10 because it’s a creative standard industry. Thehands on timepieces are placed at 10:10 so that the company’s logo on the face getsframed and not blocked by the hands. The industry standard used to be 8:20 but that looked too much like a frown and createdan unhappy look.
In its advts , the clock handsare placed at 10:09:36, exactly below 12 o’ clock .”
Apparently, the practice started in the 1920s, and its stuck since then.
