Difference between revisions 17189898 and 18658631 on enwiki

[[Image:Breitling_Montbrillant.jpg|thumb|The hands are set to 8 minutes past 10]]

'''10:08''', 8 minutes past 10, is the time, analog [[watches]] are set in most advertisements. 

There are several reasons for this, generally to do with [[psychology|psychological]] factors: 

* The form of the [[hands]] has a positive effect on the viewer: the short hand pointing at 10, the long hand pointing at 8 minutes has the form of a check mark, which commonly means "ok" or "fine".
* 10 o'clock is in the morning, so the day has still to begin, it is young and you can still do so many things.
* 10 is the time you probably get up when you have time to sleep as long as you want, so you are relaxed. 10:08 can thus be associated with weekend, leisure and relaxation.
* This position of the hands does not obscure the date on watches with a date-function at 3 o'clock or any other functions at 9 or 3 o'clock.
* The hands are not, however, symmetrical on the face of the dial at 10:08. The minute hand is 48 degrees right of vertical (8 minutes times 6 degrees/minute). The hour hand, however, is 56 degrees left of vertical (60 degrees at 10, but by 10:08 the small hand has moved 8/60 of the 30 degrees between 10 and 11, or 4 degrees. Perfect symmetry would be achieved at 10:09:13.8. Other symmetrical times would not meet the needs above. 

Digital watches in commercials are set to 10:58. Oddly enough, 10:08 is also the time at which a digital display will have the maximum number of digit "segments" turned on.

[[Urban legend]]s are frequently heard to the effect that the watches are set to their hour to commemorate the hour at which some famous person (commonly [[Abraham Lincoln]] or [[John F. Kennedy]]) died. All such stories prove to be several hours off.⏎
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[[Category:Advertising]]
[[Category:Clocks]]