Free “Professional Digital Photo” With The Purchase Of…What?

While going through some of my old iPhone photos, I found this gem I had forgotten about. It was seen in a large department store that shall remain nameless, but it promises a free “professional digital photograph” with every purchase of Kotex U feminine hygene products. Odd bed fellows to be sure.

I know this isn’t usually the type of thing I cover here on the site, but I thought this was an interesting bit of perspective about how hard it can be to be a working portrait photographer at the moment. Competition is fierce and apparently now it’s coming from promotional programs like a plastic decoder ring comes out of a box of Apple Jacks.

I’m actually a little curious about how well the promotion worked. I took this over a year ago and haven’t really seen anything like it since. I guess if it was wildly successful, you couldn’t buy a box of light bulbs without earning yourself a full-on photoshoot. And wouldn’t this have made more sense if it were on a product like, I don’t know, hair gel or make-up? Seems like people purchasing those products might be feeling a bit more photogenic.