Heck Of A Guy

The above ad ran in the Travel section of Sunday’s Chicago Tribune. The line at the bottom, which may be difficult to read, is South Carolina’s tourism slogan, Smiling Faces, Beautiful Places.

Am I the only one who wonders if this child in this pose was the ideal choice to personify the Smiling Faces bit, given that she looks a tad — well, retched?

I also have to think that the “Smiling Faces” theme may have been the idea of some young whippersnappers (are there old whippersnappers?) who never heard the Temptations sing,

Smiling faces sometimes pretend to be your friend
Smiling faces show no traces of the evil that lurks within
Smiling faces, smiling faces sometimes
They don’t tell the truth

Yep, when I envision that little girl doing whatever she’s doing with the Temptations harmonizing on “Smiling faces sometimes, They don’t tell the truth” in the background, I can hardly wait to pack my miniature golf clubs and head for Myrtle Beach.

The DrHGuy Alternative

I want to point out that I like South Carolina and, in fact, for over a decade the DrHGuy family and the Duke of Derm’s family have spent an altogether delightful week every June at another vacation destination on the South Carolina coast. In fact, I encourage each & every one of you to consider the Palmetto State for your next vacation.

I’m only suggesting that the State’s Tourist Department might have been able to find a scene of less ambiguous joyfulness — one less likely to be confused, for example, with an especially violent episode of sea sickness. Just to prove it can be done, I offer as evidence the picture below of a younger version of The Prodigal Son who was photographed spontaneously enjoying another day in paradise.

Smiling Faces, indeed.

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