Monster Trade Show Display - Big Face

Can you tell me what this person is thinking?  She’s probably not thinking about much other than the fat pay check Chanel’s going to pay her after the shoot.  (Probably explains the hint of a smile.)  My girlfriend makes me watch America’s Next Top Model (ANTM) and the experience of watching Ms. Tyra impart fortune cookie wisdom to her devotees has taught me that good models don’t over think–and some may not think very much at all.  ”They have to stay focused.”  ”Stay in the moment.”  ”Look at the camera longingly.”  These are some of the nuggets of wisdom Ms. Tyra emphasizes when the young girls who come to her seem like they’re trying too hard–when they’re thinking.

But now let me ask you a second question.  And this one’s going to scare you, maybe, because it might show you that without knowing it, you too are taking Ms. Tyra’s advice to heart.  You pass by these kinds of ads, see a giant face, and somehow you never ask yourself what it is you’re being told to buy.  So here’s the question: what the heck is the product here?  A pretty face?  The name Chanel?  Some interlocking Cs?  I know it seems like a ridiculous question.  You know Chanel sells perfume, and bags, and a lot of other things.  But why aren’t they showing any products?  Whatever happened to those ads where what’s being sold is what’s being shown?

I guess I’m supposed to buy into the fantasy.  A pretty woman is looking at me, staring, and without knowing it, I think, hey I should buy me some Chanel thing and maybe my girlfriend will look at me that way.  And if you’re a woman, maybe you might look at this ad and think to yourself that if you bought a Chanel whatever–who cares what it is–that you might be as mysterious as this woman is.  That I guess is the point.  The fantasy survives as long as I stay in the moment, don’t over think.  I’m ruining it.  I’ll stop.  Ms. Tyra, Ms. Chanel, please forgive me.