History Main / PublicSecretMessage

* In [[Script/NumberTwo the original script]] (''not'' the final script) of ''Film/BackToTheFuturePartII'', Marty gets lost and arrested in the 1960s. Without any ID he can give the authorities that wouldn't reveal him as a time traveler, he gives his name as "Marty [=DeLorean=]" and tells his lawyer to publish his story in the newspapers, in the hopes of Doc Brown discovering the newspaper and bailing him out. It doesn't quite go as planned, though: while Doc does see and recognize the message, Lorraine (a hippy in this time period) gets to him first and bails him out believing him to be a kindred spirit (apparently not recognizing that he looks identical to her one-time boyfriend "[[ImMrFuturePopCultureReference Calvin Klein]]".)

* ComicBook/{{Tintin}}: In 1934 Hergé drew a story named ''The Blue Lotus'' in which Tintin travels to China. Hergé's friend, a Chinese foreign exchange student named Zhang Chong Ren told him a lot about Chinese culture and society, including the then current situation in Asia, where Japan had military occupied China. He also wrote all the Chinese signs, billboards, ideograms and texts seen in the backgrounds. As a BilingualBonus only Chinese people could read these. This also might explain why the book [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar wasn't censored]] from the start because many of these texts are anti-Japanese slogans, like for instance: ''Boycot Japanese products'', ''Abolish unfair treaties'' and ''Down with Imperialism''. Upon realizing the anti-Japanese tone of the story, Japan's diplomats stationed in Belgium issued an official complaint and threatened to take their complaint to the Permanent Court of International Justice at The Hague. Zhang congratulated Hergé, stating that it would only further expose the actions of Japan in China to further international scrutiny and would make Hergé "world-famous".

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]

* In ''Series/TimeTrax'' Lambert would send messages to the future by placing coded personal ads in the newspaper.
* ''Series/SueThomasFBEye'': Used by terrorists in the episode "The Lawyer." A terrorist in jail sends a message to his organization to change their plans for an attack by having his lawyer read a statement on the news about how sad he is to miss his nephew's birthday party. The FBI team brings in a special expert on these types of hidden-in-plain-sight messages to help decode the communications.
* In an episode of the Adam West ''Series/{{Batman}}'', Batman talks to one of the villains over a broadcast radio station, but requests that all other citizens of Gotham switch off to avoid hearing his private message. Naturally they oblige.
* In ''Series/{{Rubicon}}'', a secret society publishes messages encrypted in crossword puzzles in newspapers.
* On ''Series/{{Chuck}}'', [[spoiler:Steven Bartowski]] provides Ellie Bartowski with a method for contacting him through coded messages in the personal ads.

* In ''Series/OliversTravels'', Oliver's friend who writes crosswords under the name of "Aristotle" goes missing after getting on the wrong side of a conspiracy, but Aristotle's crosswords continue to be published, and at one point Oliver realizes that the most recent one contains a hidden message indicating who's behind the conspiracy.
* In the ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode "Blink", the Doctor records a message that a DVD publisher he befriends adds as an EasterEgg on some very specific [=DVDs=] (corresponding to the entire DVD collection of one character) decades later. It makes no sense whatsoever, until late in the episode where it's revealed to be TheTapeKnewYouWouldSayThat: The character's reactions to the scene form a perfectly cohesive conversation with the Doctor (who has a transcript of her reactions) regarding the TARDIS and the Weeping Angels.
** "Bad Wolf" was a subtle message sent all through time and space by Rose, which she sends to send her past self to rescue the Doctor.
** In "Power of the Daleks", the rebels place a secret message detailing the time and place of their next meeting hidden in a notice placed on a public noticeboard.
* Michael Weston of ''Series/BurnNotice'' has been known to create or receive coded messages in public locations. One earlier example showed him writing a cryptic note to another spy on the sidewalk in chalk.
* In an episode of ''Series/GetSmart'', The Chief (disguised as a singing waiter) communicates a message to Max and 99 by slipping code phrases into the song he is singing.
* ''Series/TheWildWildWest'': James West communicates with his partner, Artemus Gordon, through the use of coded symbols written on a menu in one episode and via Morse code punched into a newspaper in another.
* In the first season of ''Series/{{Dexter}}'', the Ice Truck Killer leaves little clues in his kills that makes it very clear to Dexter that he's speaking to him personally and not the police.
* In ''Series/ICarly'', in the episode "iPsycho", Carly and the gang need to get a help message out so someone will rescue them from Nora. She's watching their every move, so they ask if they can send a birthday video to their friend Gibby. With Nora watching, they make him a video which contains a secret message.

* ''Series/ThePretender'': Argus asks for Jarod's help in this way by placing an ad in the newspaper.
* In the German series ''Löwengrube'', the religious (and somewhat naive) mother-in-law of the protagonist mentions one day that the people who beg at her door were so pious nowadays. Since he works for the criminal police, he remembers what he recently learned about hobo signs -- and indeed, there is one at her door, meaning "act as if you were pious".
* In one episode of ''Series/{{Andromeda}}'', the ship receives a message from Dylan to arrive in a certain system. Tyr says that with Dylan's behavior and constant blinking, it's obvious he's not telling something. Rommie replies that he ''is'' telling something -- the number of blinks can be deciphered as a code for a military protocol [[spoiler:ordering them to arrive prepared to fire at the ship holding him]].
* In ''Series/TheHour'', Freddie discovers that a secret code that is being spread through crossword puzzles in the newspaper, though you need a special key to find it.
* In the ''StarTrek'' episode "Bread and Circuses", Kirk calls up to the ship just as the enemy's guards threaten him with guns, so instead of telling Scotty to beam down a security detail, he says "Condition Green." Although that ''sounds'' like it means "all is well", it's a duress code meaning "We're in trouble, but take no action at this time."

** In the episode "A Study in Sherlock", David Kingsley (a.k.a. Sherlock Holmes) insists Moriarty communicates with his gang via coded obituaries in the local paper. Murdoch and Brackenreid are dubious, but as which much else in the case, the young Sherlock proves to be correct.

-->'''Finch:''' When you said your communication with the Machine was limited, you didn't say that it wasn't talking to you at all.
-->'''Root:''' If she talks, Samaritan would see. I get whispers. New cover identities hidden in the static of a phone, a map and a message encrypted in an infomercial. She was supposed to remake the world. Now, God's on the run.

* ''Series/TheEqualizer''. In "The Distant Fire", [=McCall=] finds a postcard pinned to a noticeboard at a bar he frequents. He scribbles out parts of the writing on the back to reveal a message hidden there by an old adversary.
* ''Series/MurderSheWrote'': In "The Dead File", a cartoonist hides blackmail threats in a daily comic strip.
* ''Series/{{Endeavour}}'': In "Pilot", a university professor and cryptic crossword compiler uses his weekly crossword to supply his paramour with the time and location of their next assignation.
* ''Series/MillionYenWomen'': [[spoiler:Telling ''all'' the rest of the household what she knew about the invitation sender]], some time after the fact, turns out to have been Minami's way of telling the invitation sender that she had figured out their plans and identity.
* ''Series/FatherBrown'': In "The Two Deaths of Hercule Flambeau", Father Brown sends a desperate message to Flambeau by placing an extremely cryptic advertisement in the newspaper's classifieds.

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* [[http://xkcd.com/370/ This]] ''Webcomic/{{xkcd}}'' makes fun of the public messages in ''Literature/{{Redwall}}''.
* ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'': [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20050617 here]] a bunch of [[SuperSoldier Jagers]] are [[InTheNameOfTheMoon posing]] and ChewingTheScenery, probably loud enough to hear for not only a few panicked bystanders, but half of the town. Dimo's first phrase, however, had a very specific meaning,[[note]]Only a member of house Heterodyne has any authority giving them orders "by the [[http://girlgenius.wikia.com/wiki/Jägertroth ancient contract]]"[[/note]] which [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20050624 the only intended listener recognized]] immediately (and was somewhat shocked). And it's something they say openly only when they are ''sure'' no outsider can possibly overhear.

[[folder: Web Original]]

* In the Bad Boys Love route of {{VisualNovel/HatofulBoyfriend}}, [[spoiler:Nageki]] tells his "brother" [[spoiler:Hitori]] that he's fine when he's clearly in pain due to his illness, causing [[spoiler:Hitori]] to ban him from using the phrase "I'm fine" around him. [[spoiler:Nageki]] only ever uses it again years later in a letter to [[spoiler:Hitori]] from St. Pigeonation's, to let him know that something is very wrong.

** [[Music/TheBeatles Paul McCartney]], in-universe, would hide recipes inside of his Beatles songs, which can be heard by playing the song backwards. This is made up for the show, but the end credits for that episode would actually have [=McCartney=] reading out a soup recipe played backwards and quietly over the music.

* When captured during UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar, then-aviator Jeremiah Denton communicated to the American audience during a televised interview by blinking in Morse code, spelling out the word "torture".

* Music/FrankZappa included secret messages and clues in the album art work and lyrics of his songs that are still being decyphered by fans and music historians world wide. He also had at least one ''secret word'' in each concert that he gave, usually inside jokes between him and his band members.

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' 3E had a skill called "Innuendo" for this exact purpose. It was removed in 3.5E (turned into a part of the "Bluff" skill), presumably because it was [[UselessUsefulNonCombatAbilities too specific to be worth spending skill points on]].
* The staff at Creator/SteveJacksonGames were not allowed to release the title of one game supplement in the Power-Ups series, and the forum speculation was that they were trying to create a sudden burst of interest on release to fuel impulse buys. The author even said "I've been told that the secrecy around Power-Ups 5 does, indeed, have something to do with impulse buys." An entire game's fanbase facepalmed at the release of ''Power-Ups 5: Impulse Buys''.

** [[Music/TheBeatles Paul McCartney]], in-universe, would hide recipes inside of his Beatles songs, which can be heard by playing the song backwards. This is made up for the show, but the end credits would actually have [=McCartney=] reading out a soup recipe played backwards and quietly over the music.

* A variation is used in ''[[Literature/TheThrawnTrilogy Heir to the Empire]]''. Mara Jade needs to send a message to her boss, Talon Karrde, but there's no way to do so without the message being intercepted by an Imperial Star Destroyer in orbit. Luke Skywalker (who is with her at the time), suggests using a "counterpart encrypt" between his astromech droid (also with them) and his X-wing (in Karrde's possession). The unusual encrypt works; the X-wing's computer decodes the message easily, while everyone else is stumped by it (although the Empire, while unable to ''read'' the message, does at least manage to figure out that the message is ''using'' a counterpart encrypt). Karrde later sends a message back using the same method, via the X-wing.
** There' a different version in the same book; Winter tells Han about Ackbar's 'kids' acting up, and he inquires about the 'neighbors' -- the New Republic [[HangingSeperately politicians]] and the Empire, respectively. Problem is, this wasn't a code that they'd worked out beforehand -- actually, they never worked it out at all. Han knows Winter means there's been some problems, but not just what they mean. This incident was, bizarrely, a case of RealLifeWritesThePlot. Long before the book was released Creator/TimothyZahn told some trusted friends about it and met them at a convention to discuss it further, only to realize that they were surrounded by scifi geeks who would know what he meant if he started talking about Luke and Leia and Han and Chewie, and then he'd be in trouble. So on the fly he called them Brother, Sister, Friend, and Copilot... and it worked.

* ''Manga/OnePiece'': At the end of the manga's fifth saga, the main character returns to the scene of a major battle, ostensibly to honor the dead. Reporters on the scene photographed him, and his crew, scattered around the world, saw the article, and realized it wasn't the kind of thing [[IdiotHero their captain]] typically did, and noticed a simple message written on a tattoo.

* ''The Art of War'' (2000). A female agent is shown printing posters for a Lost Cat, even though said cat is in her room. She's murdered before she has a chance to put the posters up, but the protagonist finds them in her apartment and deciphers the message encoded in each poster.

* In ''FanFic/PurpleDays'', Joffrey finds a mysterious cypher tha he knows for a fact was meant for him and him alone. It turns out to be a double cypher: first, each symbol represents a different letter, correlating to constellations and the different number of stars on each, and the second uses a clue found in Yeen, "everyone but the purple prince steps to the right" - telling Joffrey to move each letter except those in his name one position to the right, finally producing the message.

* ''Film/TheIpressFile''. Harry Palmer tries to negotiate a trade with a villain. In reply he's given a flyer with a phone number written on it and told to call at a particular time. Harry however dials the number straight away and is told by the operator that it doesn't exist. Realising he's been fooled, he chases after the villain only to be beaten up by his bodyguard. Harry returns to his boss and admits defeat, whereupon he's told to look at the flyer -- advertising a [[OvertRendevous public band performance]] where the villain is in fact waiting.

* In ''Literature/TheEndOfEternity'', a stranded time traveller publishes an advertisement in a newspaper containing a picture of a [[UsefulNotes/NuclearWeapons mushroom]] and the phrase:

* In the ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode "Blink", the Doctor records message that a DVD publisher he befriends adds as an EasterEgg on some very specific [=DVDs=] (corresponding to the entire DVD collection of one character) decades later. It makes no sense whatsoever, until late in the episode where it's revealed to be TheTapeKnewYouWouldSayThat: The character's reactions to the scene form a perfectly cohesive conversation with the Doctor (who has a transcript of her reactions) regarding the TARDIS and the Weeping Angels.
** "Bad Wolf" was a subtle message sent all through time and space by Rose, who she sends to send her past self to rescue the Doctor.