Kate Moss and Nikon

Kate Moss has recovered nicely from her cocaine incident to become Nikon's current model. Much like the house model she was for Calvin Klein in the 1990s, for $1 million Moss agreed to appear in fashionesque ads for Nikon's latest campaign.

Apparently nude and with a suggestive expression, Moss is lending a sophisticatedly erotic feel to Nikon's image. Work by Smith and Engel in 1968 suggests that scintillating models can actually influence people's perceptions of the product. In their study, a hot model in a Buick ad resulted in viewers rating the car as faster, more powerful, better designed, and less safe than the ad sans the model.

It's likely that Moss has a similar effect for Nikon cameras. Which camera is cooler, sleeker, and faster? One advertised with middle-aged tourists or Kate Moss?

Tell Timmy and Susie to come inside...Falcon Beach is on!

Falcon Beach recently joined ABC Family's "Sizzlin' Summer" line up. The prime-time seriel is about a collision of worlds (rich vacationers meet townies) as teens wrestle with love, lust, and the "loss of innocence."

The images in the Falcon Beach promo piece certainly suggest that 'sizzlin'' has as much to do with sex as it does temperature. A buff shirtless male and three females (two are bikini-clad) are sure to draw attention. Firm bodies are positioned and photographed so that they are emphasized. Notice, too, that the young woman in white appears to be making eye contact with the viewer (a form of interpersonal flirting behavior) while others are looking off the page.

What do the promoters of this program want to communicate? Any normal person would be safe to assume that Falcon Beach viewing offers plenty of beachwear to behold and plot lines revolving around sexual tension as young romances (d)evolve.