The paper addresses the Russian folk tale, which represents a concentrated centuries-old experience of previous generations. The Russian folk tale, richly saturated with symbols, performs an extensive list of functions, some of which are not immediately noticeable. The author pays attention not only to the existing functions of fairy tales in culture, but also analyzes the functions of the fairy-tale symbols in visual culture, focusing on the hidden functions of fairy-tale symbolism. While analyzing visual messages, the author discovered three latent functions used within the visual culture. The paper detects reasons for the reception of fairy-tale symbolism, which at its root contains archetypes that constantly and unconsciously affect the consciousness of almost any modern person. As an example the author has chosen modern advertising videos, print advertising, as well as visual foreign and domestic political events that somehow, covertly, and sometimes aggressively contain and use fabulous symbols. The study comes to the conclusion revealing the causes of the latent functions of fairy-tale symbolism in visual culture.