Kitchen of Your German Dreams

It's old news in the advertising business that readers need multiple exposures to the same image before they absorb the content. This works well for those who sell ads, who talk about "impressions," as if readers/viewers were no more than paper taking ink on a printing press.

Well, here's an ad for Bosch appliances that has run in my local papers many times, but which I never noticed until today:


Two things finally struck me on this most recent impression.

First, what a weird headline and image combination. The ad's creators think they're being clever, but what I see is an empty kitchen. No counters, no windows, no humanity -- and this is what your designer and financial planner can agree on. An empty room with a few hunks of stainless steel.

Second, what's the deal with the teeny refrigerator and oven below the gigantic vent hood? The item that the average homeowner doesn't even think of as an appliance -- and resents having to buy more than anything -- is shown close to life size (okay, that's an exaggeration), while the more important pieces look like doll house furniture.

Yes, the ad screams "We're German!" But does it sell kitchen appliances to Americans?