Quick Lesson in Semiotics
I took this picture this morning, in front of BGSU's ROTC building. I'm wondering whether they thought through the design before commissioning the project.
posted by Lance @ 8:22 AM
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6 Comments:
As the daughter and granddaughter of funeral directors (actually, I prefer the term morticians), I have to say that the 'memorial' is fantastic!
Fantastic and bizarre. I mean, I would think twice about joining ROTC if I saw what appeared to be a tombstone memorializing my eventual--inevitable?--death.
i'd have to agree with you lance. it's not exactly the "welcome" i'd be looking for. maybe if they put an object that generated temptation then maybe i'd consider joining. but a tombstone to say welcome just won't do. but it did make me giggle just a bit. great find!
On one level, it's kind of funny. But on another, it's close enough to truth in advertising (times being what they are) that it's also quite tragic, I think.
would you then say it's an attempt at truthful advertisement? (as opposed to adverts that often fool customers and in the end leave them disappointed.)and in the end, is it ultimately an effective advertising tool or just one that stops to make you think? however, i suppose it depends on how you define effective as i've heard ppl say that if you're still talking about it (a memorial, billboard, commercial, etc) a week later, that it obviously was worthwhile. maybe it did the job intended?!
I don't think the memorial was actually intended as an advertisement, much less to be a reminder to future soldiers that their job is dangerous.
I also don't think too many other people have ever paid much attention to it. It's one of those things on a college campus that you see but don't see--like one of the dozens of plaques hanging around Elon. So, really, we are the only people still talking about it a week later, and somehow I don't think we're ROTC material.
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