One big stock image family

The other day we listened to a National Public Radio show about the commercial image industry, the big agencies and brokers like gettyimages.

The absurdity of some editing and use of stock photos and videos was hilarious, for instance, a healthy male saw his edited photo used in a commercial and found he had lost a leg.

Seeing yourself as a one-legged handicapped person on a billboard while you walk down the street on your natural legs can mess with anybody's head.

Today, the German Zeit Online has another very funny example of how stock images work. In campaign spots of the liberal conservative FDP and the far right NPD, the same happy stock video family rides their bicycles down a tree lined road.

What the report does not say: are they even a German family? The stock footage is from gettyimages after all...

The FDP is currently the junior partner in the German federal government, the NPD faces efforts to ban the party for anti-constitutional activities.

In the paraphrased words of the billboard amputee: they really mean it when they say you are transferring all rights to the photo to the agency.

Very much the same inadvertent duplications occur with music in commercials. We vividly recall Vampire Weekend in their happy Raeggae pop incarnation in a Tommy Hilfiger ad back to back with a Honda car commercial.

This begs the question: many Germans believe the main political parties are so similar that it is hardly worth going to the polls -- why not use the same candidate for office?
The candidate could work as a Christian Democrat in the morning and as a Social Democrat in the afternoon. Debates would be much easier, the candidate of one party would never have to guess what his or her counterpart was thinking or planning if elected.

One big family.

Actually, there were the two Vogel brothers back in the 1970s, 1980s or so who came very close to this ideal, one was a high ranking Christian Democrat, the other a high ranking Social Democrat.

[Update 10/21/2015] The current European refugee crisis has seen a spike in the use of old, disparaging images and youtube clips and montages for anti-refugee propaganda. So, remember, images can and will be re-purposed or doctored. At least check timestamps before you retweet or share.