"If we want to discuss this from the perspective of whether or not it functions as an effective piece of marketing – that's easy. It's complete crap. As advertising, it fails on almost every level. No immediate idea of what the product itself is, no connection as far as a casual observer can see between the mood of the piece and the product being sold (which would be made immeasurably better if they made it clear that their macros are designed for creating moody, dark, near-monochromatic imagery). It makes absolutely no sense if we read it as promotion for the photographic house themselves; in that case, I would expect to see at least a couple of other examples of their work in set into the ad. It's a terrible advertisement. But unless you are offended by people doing a bad job of advertisement (a position I waffle on from day to day), there is nothing inherently offensive about this piece. It is no more and no less inherently offensive than the cover of a horror novel called The..." - Alexander Williams