Li’l Vampires?

The other day I was surfing the internet looking for ideas for curtains for my lounge room. After browsing several home interior sites I finally found what seemed to be a stylish site with some very nice, elegant ideas.

As I trawled through the photos on the site, I noticed that one picture showed a baby of around eight months in the foreground, sitting on a sofa.

“How cute,” I thought, assuming that perhaps the owner of the company had, like many a proud parent, decided to show off their offspring. I was a little surprised that they had chosen their business site to do so but conceded that there are many advertising photos on the internet of real people. Besides, I thought, many people are drawn to babies, so perhaps it wasn’t such a bad marketing ploy, after all.

But as I continued to scroll through the rest of the photographs, I came across the baby again. This time it was a close up. He or she was smiling cutely but there was something disturbing about the image.

When I looked closer I noticed the following words emblazoned in red writing across the baby’s tiny white singlet: “I’d rather be drinking blood”.

Now, forgive my bewilderment but, at what point in a marketing campaign might one decide that a photo of a small child wearing a tacky and potentially offensive singlet might send sales skyrocketing?

I’m imagining a bunch of trendy curtain-design people hunched over a worktable, sifting through dozens of photos when suddenly one of them has an epiphany;

“I know!” he shouts, ‘Let’s include Mini Me Dracula drooling and wearing a distasteful little shirt. Surely THAT will get the curtain-buying punters in!”

At the other end of the marketing equation, can you visualise the curtain-buyers embracing this quirky little advertising stunt?

“Oh, look, Sebastian. This evil-looking child who prefers drinking blood looks just perfect against those amazing plantation shutters. I simply must have them.”

Shhhhrighhhht.

Surely the twits must have realised that not everyone would take kindly to the image? So why on earth include a photo that could polarise – and in many cases actually turn away - potential customers? Not to mention, that they portrayed their own child in a bad light.

It just made no sense, but then again, I have come to realise that some parents are quite odd. On the one hand they say they want the absolute best for their kids; but on the other hand, they don’t seem to be very clear about what, exactly, that is.

Surely, even posting a normal photo of one’s child on the web should be given a reasonable amount of consideration, let alone posting a child wearing a slogan with offensive and/or evil connotations.

Anyway, even though I realise my non purchase will not even be noticed by the vendors, at least I’m satisfied that Vampire Boy’s thoughtless parents won’t be getting my curtain business any time soon.

“I’d rather have bare windows!” was my response to their website and I’m sure I wasn’t the only one.