Using REAL PEOPLE to Sell Clothes

This makes me almost sad. Not the news itself - just the fact that we as a society have reached a point where this IS news.

A major national magazine, amidst subtle gasps and sideways glances, inking the revelation of using real people in ads. Newsweek's full article includes a telling sentence: "Much of this interest in real-looking models is driven by the Internet, which has democratized the once rarefied world of high fashion."

Heaven help us. Perhaps word is reaching Bryant Park that we're NOT all 5'11", 104 lbs and size 0? Next earth-shattering news will be that of a stick-thin model, in a selfless act of bravery and desire to join her New Normal replacements waiting in the wings, consuming an entire banana nut muffin. Something tells me that we 'real people' still have a lot of work to do and that a lot of wake-up calls still need to be placed.

I don't think this was a slow news day - we haven't had many of those in quite a while, what with interminable wars, collapsing economies, diminishing ecological resources, global warming and Britney Spears.

Go read the rest of the article if you haven't already. Then, when you get back, please tell me how in the world we got to the point where the concept of using real people in advertising became a revolutionary trend and a newsworthy event?