I am an ad reader. My husband, a former journalist, has never really understood why I enjoy flinging aside all the important Local, National, and Sports news. We both agree the comics are for reading. For me, the act of ad reading begins with memories of my parents reading the paper and one would say, "Did you notice the price of crab at Kings?" or "Wow, look at that. I never thought I'd see a VCR for under $100."
They didn't have any plans to buy any of it, it was just... interesting I guess. (Wow... I'm realizing how dull my upbringing sounds right now. It really was much more exciting... really. I'll tell you about sledding and Bolivia stuff that will make it all sound much better sometime ... or you can check the archives.)
At any rate, I've inherited this need to read every ad in the paper, cover to cover. I used to really read every single one, but that was because we lived in Ellensburg and as much as I loved that place, I was desperate for different things to read.
It was in Ellensburg my disillusionment began. One day, Mike mentioned the newspaper photographer was out taking stock shots at the lake. "What's that?" I innocently asked. If I knew then what I know now, I would've stayed ignorant of this diabolical system.
"He's out taking pictures of people in case we need a photo for something, he'll have it on hand."
It didn't hit me at the time. It seemed rather efficient. You need a photo of a Mom and child for an article on baby behavior, they'd have one filed away and ready. Seemed like a nice way to spend an afternoon: taking pictures at the lake on a sunny day.
It wasn't until the next month or so when I was looking at the ads that the horrible truth finally hit me. That woman in the weight loss ad probably had never even realized her photo would go on to promote someone's diet plan. That shiny apple was just a prop used to create a photo and stored in a drawer until someone said, "Hey, I know what this school board promo needs -- a piece of fruit!"
I soon saw it everywhere. Those ads in China: I strongly doubt Hugh Jackman granted his image rights to promote a restaurant in that small town we visited.
When I see an ad now, I have a tinge of regret. I know too much. I know it's not real. Just one more bit of happiness slipping away. I really want that person to be happy with their car. I want to think they thought about it, planned to purchase it and then, just as they were about to drive away, a photographer came running up and asked them to sign a consent form and said, "You looked so happy, I just had to take a picture of your happy face!"
Another example of ignorance really being bliss.
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