It's just I wonder if advertising people really give a rat's ass about reality.
Here's this heartfelt little picture on the back of an organic cereal box, extolling the simple beauty of child with doll. She is so in love with the cereal, she's painstakingly feeding it to her doll...one flake at a time, the flake hooked onto the trine of a fork.
Well, everyone in the whole world knows that when a child picks up a fork to eat a flake of corn, it means she doesn't like the flake of corn. It means she is bored with the flake of corn. It means she'll do anything to look like she's actually intending to eat that flake of corn, to keep the heat off.
This little girl knows absolutely her doll hates the flake as much as she does. But she's counting on the doll to remain silent. She's counting on the doll to play along. She's counting on this because she knows the doll knows if she doesn't there'll be hell to pay later.
What happens in the end is the flake of corn falls off that fork tine. It falls onto the floor. So little missy leans down to get it. This movement causes the doll to knock into the bowl of cereal. The bowl falls with a satisfying crash onto the floor. Mutt the dog lunges to salvage the situation. While Mommy signals to the photographer the game is up.
"She doesn't like the cereal," says Mom.
The advertising people just hope they got a good shot. Because it doesn't matter if the kid liked the cereal. It just matters that someone like me buys the cereal.
I liked the cereal until I zeroed in on that shot. Now caution lurks. Because if that's the attention they pay to the decorations on the outside of the cereal box, then I have my doubts as to the contents within.