I was having dinner one night in an Italian restaurant that does a decent job of recreating the look and feel of the old fashioned neighborhood Italian restaurants in the great Northeast. Those places with their simple tablecloths, hardwood floors and weighty dishes with tiny floral patterns had a homespun feel to them. Sitting in the chain operated restaurant I got a bit fixated on the large photos that seemed to cover every wall in the place.
Most of the photos were black and white shots taken between the turn of the last century and the 1950s: Ordinary people doing ordinary things. Some were posed and others were candid camera shots. Of course the pictures aren't on the walls to hide cracks in the wallboard. They're intended to make us feel like guests in the home of friends with lots of warm family photos on display. Such schmaltzy marketing is not limited to Italian restaurants either. Lots of restaurants adorn their walls with photos that remind us of simpler times. The selections often match the restaurant's theme. In a country cooking spot for example, you're likely to see men in overalls standing next to an old John Deere. Italian restaurants have pictures of people that look a lot like my grandparents.
Lately, I've taken to wondering who the people in these photos were. Whenever I eat in a restaurant that uses old time photos I find myself trying to imagine what their lives were really like. I also wonder how happy they would be to discover that their likenesses are plastered all over the walls in 570 Cracker Barrel locations in 41 states for example. Celebrities are happy to give restaurants a glossy 8x12 including an autograph. They want people to remember them. But I don't think people that led quiet lives actually gave their permission to display their images in all these restaurants. It's just as unlikely that they all happened to be professional models that were paid for the photo shoot and then signed releases in exchange for a few bucks.
I know it sounds like a small thing but put yourself in their shoes. After you're gone do you want your picture hanging in a rib joint, a seafood shanty, or heaven forbid, a fast food outlet? What if the photo some marketing guru happens to select fails to take into account that you had a cold the day the picture was taken? (Is that a cold sore just under my lower lip?) Besides, what if the photographer was in a hurry and got your bad side? I know what you're thinking. Who cares? I'll be long gone by then. Well, some people might care if they knew about it.
Legally, there probably isn't a thing to be done. But consider this: What if your picture is hanging on the wall of thirty-something diners in 14 states right now? Yes, how do you know your mug isn't smiling down on table number 22 at a local bar and grill hundreds of miles from here? Face it, there's no rule that says you have to be dead before they can make 500 copies of your likeness and put them on the wall overlooking the restaurant counter stools at Waffle Houses all over the south.
Right now my high school prom picture could be hanging in a delicatessen somewhere in Poughkeepsie. With my luck there's probably a gravy stain on my cummerbund. If I knew which deli it was I suppose I could do something about it. But I don't. I just checked to see if the photography studio that took my prom picture is still in business. They are. Just to be safe, tomorrow I will call them. I'll demand that they cease and desist from selling or otherwise distributing my likeness to restaurants that think customers are more likely to have a good time if they're surrounded by photos of perfect strangers.
You might think that in an era of digital cameras and camera equipped cell phones, easily downloaded to the Web, the possibility that your picture might be hanging on an eatery wall, is the least of your worries. Fair enough but if my picture is on the Web I can locate it and possibly have it removed. If my snapshot is hanging on the wall of Rudy's Deli without my knowledge, that's a problem. In addition to making a restaurant feel homey, those photos are implied endorsements. Suppose I don't think Rudy makes a decent Reuben?
No comments:
Post a Comment