Relationships and Marketing

A couple of things this weekend have made me think recently, in some cases self-referentially, about relationships - or at least how they start.

First there was the LJ Meme "So tell me what about me makes you envy me", or to paraphrase "Give my ego a little boost because that is one of the (perfectly valid) things I look to my LJ for" and then there was a conversation about ice cream.

There are lots of things that allegedly help start relationships, proximity, awareness, some perception of roughly equal levels of attractiveness - but I got thinking about the marketing aspect "Look at me, want to be me, buy into the concept of me, be part of me by having a relationship with me". Häagen-Dazs are of course the perfect example of this - it's not about "gosh, this ice-cream tastes lovely", it's about "buy this ice-cream and you will have exciting, exotic sensual encounters with the people of the oppostie sex" - the image is being sold, not the physical product.

So, rather than worry about "aggressive sales technique", perhaps a reasonable strategy is to look at yourself, "be happy, be sorted, be relaxed" - then you become a more attractive, enviable lifestyle product... Or if nothing else, you might end up more comfortable anyway.

Rambles aside, as a wise woman said, "Life's a lot simpler when you're a rat.", though I suspect she meant just the furry kind.

[GPP] Hannah

Full set from recent shoot with florence90.



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