![\"bell](\"http:\/\/farm3.static.flickr.com\/2703\/4270917924_90a0dc5589.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nSo there’s a smiling guy with the word PLUMBING in big red letters next to him. Not so strange… or is it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let’s look a little closer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes, that’s a phone. It’s an ad for plumbing, and he’s holding a phone<\/em>. Not a pipe; a PHONE.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What does a phone have to do with plumbing? Everybody knows you can call a plumber on a phone, you don’t need this concept presented visually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Is the idea that you can use a telephone to call a plumber particularly surprising to anyone? The add effectively states “we’re not like those other plumbing places where you have to send a telegram.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n But it gets stranger — look at his shirt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Do you see what I see? Because what I see is this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n But wait… that’s the logo for Bell Telephone. The guy in the ad is wearing a phone company uniform. Does he work for the phone company during the day, and moonlight as a plumber at night?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Or perhaps he’s the customer. He’s a phone operator, and the men’s room at the phone company is flooding, so he’s calling a plumber.<\/p>\n\n\n\n No explanation could possibly be satisfactory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"phone\"\/](\"http:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4056\/4270917742_3d15753179_m.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"shirt](\"http:\/\/farm3.static.flickr.com\/2711\/4270173351_0081a130e4_o.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"bell](\"http:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4019\/4270217415_202c32bb6e_m.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
![\"telephone](\"http:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4037\/4271029030_0a11d9eeb7.jpg\")
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