Inexplicable Clip Art

I was writing something more meaningful this morning -- perhaps too meaningful for 7am, but I had to take this turn instead.

Does the dog need AOL? Is that the distress on its face? Or just that it's sitting dangerously close to Sterno? Or is it his companion (who, judging by her hand is too old for that outfit) who is home alone eating cheese fondue with her dog because she just can't reach out to her friends who have connected via e-mail to eat at a trendier restaurant?

AOL has been rotating this "for god's sake, get AOL" ad for some time now. The art has never made me think, "Yes! That is me! I feel just like that, and it's because I don't have AOL Mail!" The one before this was a guy blowing bubbles under water: ("I don't know why I can't get the Internet down here!") Another was a happy couple joining hands and jumping for joy in a wilderness meadow. Perhaps they had just thrown their Treos over a cliff.

The strangest part is that one is "served" this ad (you know who I work for) on the AOL email log in page. "Huh. Wonder if I have an email account." [click] "Man! I don't. Awww, look at the dog. " [chuckle] "That's cute. I should get AOL. Honey? Why don't we ever have fondue?"

I invite the advertising/PR wing of the Readership to explain.