So, shall we analyse what’s going on in this advert? Oh, do let’s.
The thing that strikes me is that, although lastminute.com promise ‘concierges that read your mind’, this fellow’s mind doesn’t really take a lot of reading. It may be the kind of thing that certain people book late deals for, but it seems a rather inappropriate thing on which to base an advertising campaign.
If the concierge’s face is anything to go by, he’s none too happy to have read this particular mind, though the reluctance in his expression suggests that he is well aware that simply reading a customer’s mind is not all that’s required of him. No doubt he’ll be handsomely tipped, but one feels that he’s already hunting around for other hotels to work in.
Indeed, the particular stances adopted by both characters in this horrific vignette indicate that, having read the customer’s mind, said concierge has already at least hinted that he is well aware of what the customer wants from him, and said customer is really quite chuffed at the thought of what is to follow. And the concierge is inwardly sighing because he was rather hoping he’d misread this customer’s mind all along.
Talk To Rex 
He’s holding my mapThat’s the Rough Guide Map of New York he’s holding.
I know that because I made it!
Concierge has just said “Sir, you are like a young Bill Murray”.
Tourist thinks “Armed with that kind comment and my trusty map, I will sally forth to Zabars on Broadway and West 80th to buy some lovely cheese”.
Dominic Beddow
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OK…Actually, what I was thinking was ‘Why are they making me stand on my tiptoes… The concierge is going to look like a midget’ & ‘Cheer up you miserable sod’. I may like boys, but Mark really isn’t my type. Horrific vignette? Harsh… Very harsh… Still, you made me laugh darling!
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He does look a bit like a midget, doesn’t he?I fear these comments raise more questions than they provide answers: why IS Ian standing on tiptoes? Is Mark going to Zabars with him? Why did he need Dominic to make his map when he could have bought a perfectly accurate one in Foyles?
Though to my mind none of these additional worries make the vignette any less horrific, it is lovely indeed to put a name to a face, and indeed to a map-maker. I hope you enjoyed the rest of your stay!
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