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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Two: Travel Incongruities > Prefers tea, Marrakesh, Morocco, 2006
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24-DEC-2006

Prefers tea, Marrakesh, Morocco, 2006

This café patron is engulfed in Coca-Cola signage. Yet he has ordered a pot of tea. The visual incongruity comes not only with his choice of beverage – the sheer volume of Coca-Cola’s advertising presence in this café is overwhelming in scale as well. The man seems to ignore it all, including, for the moment anyway, his tea. His thoughts are apparently elsewhere.

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Phil Douglis28-Jan-2008 19:50
Thanks Vera, for letting me know that the link I have entered in my response to Tim May below, is incorrect. The correct link should be:http://www.pbase.com/pnd1/image/72907356
Phil Douglis28-Jan-2008 04:11
I am sure Coca Cola would not be thrilled with this picture. Yet I did not make this picture as an advertisement for Coke -- I made it as an incongruous jibe at mass market advertising. I am sure he is fully conscious of who paid for these tables and chairs that he enjoys -- but that will not stop him from ordering his drink of choice -- his national drink.
Guest 27-Jan-2008 23:52
This one really grabbed my eye. Advertisers would hate to see this as it sort of slaps them in the face. The tea makes him look so sophisticated compare to a coke. It goes hand in hand with his glasses and scarf. I guess it is kind of a class thing. I actually would have envisioned him with a glass of wine. I am glad the national drink holds its place.
Phil Douglis21-Jul-2007 19:12
Pepsi speaks, at last. Thanks, Tom, for your necessarily biased view of this image. Tea is the national drink of Morocco, no matter what the ads say. Alas, however -- Coke seems to own the soft drink market, at least in Marrakesh.
Tom Briggs20-Jul-2007 23:29
Nice capture .... as a PepsiCo retiree, I can understand why he prefers tea.
Phil Douglis19-Jun-2007 23:11
Always good to hear from you, Armin. Thanks.
arminb19-Jun-2007 21:39
splendid :)
Phil Douglis20-Jan-2007 03:51
Thank you, Kal, for this praise. I appreciate your thoughts -- and yes, there's a lot of ambivalence here along with the incongruity. I enjoyed your Chinese Pizza boxes athttp://www.pbase.com/image/73259837 for the same reasons.
Kal Khogali20-Jan-2007 03:08
Simply one of the greatest images of this genre I have ever seen Phil...could there be a greater sign of ambivelance?!! Brilliant. K
Phil Douglis18-Jan-2007 20:37
You are referring, of course, to my image athttp://www.pbase.com/pnd1/image/72907367, Tim. I see the connection -- the overwhelming reach of Western Consumerism. But look at it this way -- given his handsome shades, he is able to somewhat block out Coca-Cola's pervasive presence. And he proves it, by ordering a pot of tea instead of a bottle of Coke.
Tim May18-Jan-2007 17:24
The only thing missing is his Nike hat.
Phil Douglis11-Jan-2007 04:52
Thanks for pointing out the symbolism of those sunglasses, Bernard. He may well be filtering out of the red that is screaming for attention around him. As for your link to Mao's favorite cuisine, it seems that Mao has become a cottage industry for incongruity these days. See my imageshttp://www.pbase.com/pnd1/image/58753324 andhttp://www.pbase.com/pnd1/image/31311554 in this very gallery!
Bernard Bosmans11-Jan-2007 02:40
Traditions are not easily put aside, no matter how colourful and powerful the invasion is of your space. Like this image quite a lot, it's if the man doesn't want to be blinded by the crass surroundings. I bumped into an incongruity in the city, some while ago and like to share with you Phil.http://www.pbase.com/image/67705694
Best wishes,
Bernard.
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