Chocolate puzzle
Is there anyone out there who works in advertising? Better yet, anyone who handles an account for Galaxy chocolate? Maybe you can answer a question.

In 2004 there was a poster advertising Galaxy. The picture was of (if I remember rightly) some discarded clothes and a book - the implication being, of course, that the unseen female protagonist had just decided to go to bed with some chocolate. Thebromine porn I understand.

Given the theme of the ad, one might have expected the book to have been something a bit chick-lit - maybe something by Alison Pearson or Marian Keyes. Something that'd be demotic and crowd-pleasing. Something with which Galaxy-buyers could identify.

It wasn't.

The book on the poster was Robert Burton's 1625 tome The Anatomy of Melancholy. Enthralling as it is - I own a copy myself, in the same edition as that which appeared on the poster (which is why I noticed it) - I can't for the life of me figure out why it, of all possible books, was chosen. It isn't likely to have been accidental.

I've been wondering for almost four years now why the NYRB paperback edition of a 17^th study of the causes, diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of mental ilness was being used to sell poor chocolate to the Bridget Jones generation.
( Enzyme is powered by sunlight, Fri 16 May 2008, 10:33, 12 replies)

it's in the title init - "The Anatomy of Melancholy"
i.e. Chocolate cures depression. Or so they want you to think.
( rob, Fri 16 May 2008, 10:37, closed)

thinly-veiled
PMT reference?
( crackhouseceilidhband Fuck off back to Mumsnet, Fri 16 May 2008, 10:39, closed)

@Rob
Sure - but then why go for something so obscure? Wouldn't some kind of self-help fandango have been better?
( Enzyme is powered by sunlight, Fri 16 May 2008, 10:44, closed)

You might have witnessed a rare occasion
Of an advert assuming the intended viewer to have more than 3 brain cells.
( The magic of chutney Shakes it like an Instagram filter!, Fri 16 May 2008, 10:49, closed)

obscurity is the key
If it were any living writer, Galaxy could have been sued. Plus, chocolate is supposed to be a comfort food and the book shows a need for comfort.
(frankspencer, Fri 16 May 2008, 10:55, closed)

@Enzyme
It could be anything really

* It was the book that looked the nicest when someone was told to go to a charity shop and pick up as many cheap books as they can find that roughly fitted the brief.

* It was out of copyright so it didn't have to be cleared / pay a third party

* It amused someone who was working on the project or they thought it was classy

Having worked on advertising projects, I'm just saying that often the choices made are for quite pragmatic reasons rather than anything else.
( rob, Fri 16 May 2008, 10:55, closed)

@Frank/ Rob...
The copyright thing I'd accept. Seems reasonable.


Now, I wonder if Peter Yorke'd like to offer me a job...
( Enzyme is powered by sunlight, Fri 16 May 2008, 10:57, closed)

what did it look like?
Was it a muted brown or gold or cream colour and similar in palette to a Galaxy wrapper?
( crackhouseceilidhband Fuck off back to Mumsnet, Fri 16 May 2008, 10:57, closed)

@CHCB
It looks like this:

( Enzyme is powered by sunlight, Fri 16 May 2008, 10:59, closed)

well
that gives me an appetite for some second-rate chocolate.
( crackhouseceilidhband Fuck off back to Mumsnet, Fri 16 May 2008, 11:03, closed)

^^^
*feeds*
( Enzyme is powered by sunlight, Fri 16 May 2008, 11:06, closed)

My guess is something mundane
like it happened to be in the photographers' studio and the set dresser or the art director liked the cover.

More likely, some poor runner was sent out to the nearest second-hand book shop at the last minute and told to buy something appropriate.
( Smallbrainfield, Fri 16 May 2008, 12:07, closed)