Forbidden Fruit

Since everyone has been writing about Apple and their new iPad, I thought I would write about a different fruit, but one no less popular. Maybe even more popular...

Recently, I found myself in Seattle taking in the sites. A nice city set in a stunning landscape. I was not expecting to be there, but life changes quickly. For Seattle, the day was unseasonably cold, windy and rainy, but the sun kept trying to poke through the clouds. Compared to Chicago, it was a typical day for April. Unlike Chicago, Seattle’s cherry trees were in full bloom. I thought the treeline streets looked quite pretty...so I snapped a few shots while we drove through the neighborhoods...

As we stopped at a nondescript intersection, I noticed “fruit” hanging from a particularly colorful tree. Shimmering red sparkles caught my eye.

OMG! Stilettos?

It was absurdly beautiful and disturbing as they dangled above our idling car. Annoyed, I asked my friend why people throw shoes up, into trees and power lines. I hate visual clutter, I thought to myself. At the same time, I eyed a woman loitering conspicuously nearby as though she had nothing better to do. My friend proceeded to educate me about the subject...if you see hanging tennis shoes you can buy drugs there...and...high heeled shoes means you can find prostitution nearby.


I could not help but think how the red & black heels created such a stark visual metaphor...Forbidden fruit hanging from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil...I wonder if they teach this kind of marketing in an MBA course...the dark side of creativity is quite powerful.