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ATTRACTION-REPULSION

                                          September 3, 1998
                                     Rev:      May 28, 2008
In the mid-90s, there was a
series of billboards around             (originally posted to alt.gothic)
San Francisco (and elsewhere?)
where in the forground there
was a woman in latex bondage,
but the text was something
like:

    "Thankfully, some
    things never change:
    Drink Cirrhosis Vodka."

Down in the corner, there was grey-haired suited male
(no doubt, a power-swiller), smirking dismissively.

Now, the reason they put the fetish clothes up front is
that they knew it would be eye-catching.  They figured
their prospective customers were attracted to it, and
at the same time they knew they could reassure them by
pretending to be attacking the image they were using as
a hook.

There's an attraction/repulsion syndrome going on
that the advertisers are very conscious of, even if
the marks haven't admitted it to themselves.

   They want it, but feel threatened by it --
   they fear they're out-of-style, that life
   has passed them by while they were busy              CIRCULAR_MOTION
   being Practical (i.e. scared conformists).

This syndrome isn't confined to just advertising.
Ever noticed that the villans always get to wear
the best clothes?

The good guys are almost always reassuringly bland.

Some insults are the sincerest form of flattery.


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