The Odd Sell

We've heard of the "soft sell", and the "hard sell", but I'm trying to figure out what kind of "sell" this is.

This is a photo from an Abercrombie & Fitch email I received.


Although it looks cut off, that's the whole picture. Are they selling teeth or nipples? Certainly not clothes because he is apparently not wearing any. Or maybe they are suggesting that if you buy their clothes it will cover up the fact that you don't look like him without them. Or something like that.

Remember when advertisers used to sell "sex appeal"? Now they just sell sex. And in this case, at least from my heterosexual viewpoint, they've even dropped that. Now it's just sexless naked smiling bland guys.

Yeah, makes me want to shop there.

-- Eric / www.ericdalen.com