The Modern Romantic

It's usually the last thing you turn to on a flight. The newspaper is finished, that hefty novel is too involved for you to get into. But skymall is there for you. 'No way am I going to buy anything in it', you tell yourself. Then you see the ad for the adult-sized footed pajamas. Like the ad promises, my search is over.

There's also the ad for the child's grand piano. The little girl at the piano wears pink satin that matches her Sunday best hat. From her smile you can tell it's Mommy or Daddy taking the picture. The headline reads 'Carnegie Hall...here we come!' Seriously awesome shit.

There's something so aspirational about these ads. Not just in the reassuring way the ad for the palm tree porch light calls it's product 'elegant', promising a better lifestyle to come once us shlubs in economy touch down, but also for the advertisers themselves, who often appear in their own ads, wearing that designer ear sock or applying the wrinkle terminator atlis to their face. These ads say 'Honey, we're gonna make out like gangbusters-- we're in Skymall!'