The Stroop Effect.

The words themselves interfere with your ability to quickly say the correct color of the word. Two different theories have been proposed to explain this phenomenon :

• Selective attention theory : According to this theory, naming the actual color of the words requires much more attention than simply reading the text.
• Speed of processing theory: This theory states that people can read words much faster than they can name colors. The speed at which we read makes it much more difficult to name the color of the word after we’ve read the word.

Words are powerful. Sometimes, they are overpowering. This is the point of the work of Professor J.R. Stroop and his famed experiments on words and colors.

One method of marketing that uses the Stroop Effect might be the attachment of a direct and powerful word like "revolutionary" to what, in reality, is a fairly minor change in a product. The point is to exaggerate the change -- for example, a new shape of a car's gear shifter -- and focus the viewer's attention on the word "revolutionary." If the word is more important than its context, then the word can, so to speak, cover over the reality of what is being described. The word, therefore, becomes more significant than the reality being described.