Slope of Hope Blog Posts

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This Must Be the Place

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My brain doesn't spend all its time thinking about doom and gloom in the markets. I spend some other time thinking doom and gloom about other things (lest one think I'm a total sourpuss, I am madly in love with my wife and kids, so there actually is some light in my life).

One ad that I've been sort of obsessed with is the one below for Hyatt Place. I read the WS Journal and NY Times every morning, so I see hundreds of print ads each day, but for some reason, this one seems to rankle me particularly.

I have the following issues with this ad:

  1. What is it that the patron finds so delightful? She seems to be on cloud nine right now. Does she find the presence of food surprising? Is she alarmed that Hyatt would offer something palatable? Is there a slip of paper with a funny joke on top of her food pyramid?
  2. What is the staff member doing there? When I eat, I either want to be (1) engaged in conversation; or (2) totally alone with my newspaper. There is no in-between. I'm not going to eat some highly processed meal while some underpaid waitperson watches me eat. Piss off.
  3. My depress-o-meter pegs badly looking at the gaping maw of emptiness in the background. Take note of the food serving area, complete with sneeze guards, but completely lacking in……….food. Perhaps there is a metaphor hidden here for the corporate soul of Hyatt. Or maybe the photographer just didn't want to bother.
  4. Where is everyone else? Is the message here that it's approaching 1 in the morning, and this pathetic wage slave finally has a chance to sit down and have a meal? She looks awfully fresh-faced for it. And does she really want to hit the sack on a full stomach? I sense her life is gross is multiple dimensions. And sad. I assume her cheerful pantsuit is meant to combat my feelings. You have failed, pantsuit.
  5. Finally, I think there's simply too much food here. This Carol Brady-lookalike appears to consume about 700 calories per day. However, she has a massive bowl of rich-looking soup, a giant plate piled high with food, and a glass of calorie-rich alcohol. You all know what's going to happen here. She's going to have a spoon or two of soup. A few nibbles from the dish of her favorites. And she's going to shotgun the wine. Afterwards, the even more pathetic staff person will throw away a pile of food that hundreds of millions of people on Earth would love to have.

What's that you say? You glance at the ad for 1/2 a second, assume it's a pleasant scene showing good service, and turn the page? That's why you're not insane, my friend.