Optical illusions are often described as mind-boggling, mind-bendint, brain-frying, and everything in between. But let's be honest, most of the time all they elicit is a slight smirk, or maybe the odd, 'Heh.' But here's one that's truly left my mind boggled, nay, bent, nay, fried.
Do you think the Coca-Cola can in the image below is red? Do you? Yes? You do, do you? Is that right? Red? We're going with red, are we? Is that your final answer? Well, guess what! It's not! Welcome to one of the best optical illusions out there.
This Coca-Cola can is not red from r/woahdude
The illusion, variations of which we've seen before, has been confusing people for years. But it's recently resurfaced on social media – and it's the first time this author has laid eyes on it. Reader, I am baffled. How is that can not red? I know it isn't, but I can't unsee it. And now I'm questioning everything. Can my eyes even be trusted? What is a colour, anyway?
"It’s wild how my brain keeps trying to make it red, over and over again," one Redditor comments, while another asks, "is the illusion here caused by the fact that we expect the Coke can to be red?"
Thankfully, another commenter is at hand with a handy explanation. "This is an example of simultaneous color contrast, a phenomenon that occurs when two adjacent colors influence one another, changing your perception of the colors. The cones in your eyes make it seem like it is pink. Cones give your eyes good color vision but can also play tricks with your brain, hence why from a distance, ie not zoomed in, the color appears pink and why you see the can of Coke as “red” even though there is no red in the image."
So there we have it. But even with the explanation, I'm sorry, but that can is red.
