quaint melody

Like any weekday afternoon, I logged on to the local newspaper website for my dose of current events, while a news piece caught my eyes. It’s a photo article that’s placed in the middle of the front page. In gist, the Labour party Budget pamphlet features a happy family photo. The people in the photo are actually Americans, instead of Kiwis. Yup, it’s a stock photo purchased from iStockphoto, and some nitpicking blogger caught it out and called the newspaper because ‘it’s not kiwis’.

Well, I don’t know about you, but what’s the big deal here? So what if the Labour party spent about 10 or 20 NZ$ to purchase stock photo to use in their Budget pamphlet; So what if the family in the photo is actually American instead of Kiwi?! Big freaking deal! It’s an advertising campaign for pete’s sake! They certainly looked kiwis(and not only I said so).The photo is purely there to act as a portrait. No harm done, no law broken! Most people can’t even tell! Yet some people are making such big deal out of it! Seriously folks, do you really go through all the pamphlets and flyers to scrutinize every single stock photo for originality and authenticity? Some people just have too much time on their hands! I love New Zealand, but every so often, little things get blown out of proportion here. Some trivialized news like this is simply not worth a place in a prominent newspaper, much less on the front page. Yet there you have someone jumping up and down shouting blue murder! As one commentator simply put it, ‘The only embarrassing thing about this is the fact that it’s seen as a newsworthy story here in NZ. Get over it, get a life and move on, it’s a photo for christ’s sake!’

On the side note: Here’s a question. Do you really think every single advertising, say holiday promotion uses the exact photos taken in the said destination? Newsflash! All advertising agencies use stock images, and they choose the ones that suit the champaign best. Most of the time, they are not the same place! It’s all make believe! The most suitable pictures that depict the product in question are always chosen. Photos, so often are just a tool to give people a sense of what the company is marketing. Agencies use whatever that is most relatable and most eye-catching to promote their products. Why do you think Celcom used Leehom as their endorser? He’s not Malaysian and surely is not using Celcom network, but the campaign caught our eyes and it’s a success!

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