There is something amazing about stock photography that I always enjoy. Some of the situations the models are in are just absurd. I would love to know what the person responsible for coming up with the scenes is thinking. It seems CIRA really went above and beyond here.
This is just a Canadian layman’s view, but I suspect it was something like “What’s with those ridiculous stock images that keep getting made? Always such unrealistic scenarios...” “Hey, you know... We could probly do something about that...” “You read my mind, but also let’s put Canadian stuff in ridiculous ways.” “Ooo yeah, a real pastiche!” “It’s really more of a parody, but call it whatever you like.”
Oh dear... far nicer than this would have been stock photos which are noticeably in Canadian cities. Couple laughing outside Atwater/Kensington market over a chocolatine/timbits, person working on laptop with Capilano bridge in sight, something about a rodeo?
But yah... we can pretend "holding an axe in a conference room" is super relatable/useful :P
It's a lot easier to buy a moose outfit than fly to 5 Canadian cities! That said, I would have enjoyed less cliched Candianism like "Toronto young professionals discuss which condo they are saving up for" and "Ottawan mother from English-speaking family looks on in despair as five-year-old daughter refuses to practice French, forever dooming her to provincial political office".
I'm not trying to prevent others from having fun, I'm just stating that it isn't fun for me, a member of their target audience and an owner of a .ca domain. Furthermore, I don't think I personally know many people that are amused by "boardroom lumberjack" that aren't people not from Canada.
That being said, if it's your cup of maple syrup, then be my plaid-wearing, beaver-trapping, boardroom lumberjack guest:)
As a different member of their target audience, and an owner of .ca domains I think this is a nice humorous nod to the Canada I enjoy: subversive, self-aware, inclusive, and experimental.
Usually I ignore CIRA for being uninspired, but today they got my attention.
Everything you listed is already highly represented when it comes to Canada. Let the rest of the country have a second of attention and you might discover why they despise urbanites so much. Toronto, Calgary, and Vancouver already have enough attention as it is. Not everything has to be about them.
Oh good! Being an expat, one pet peeve of mine is how people tend to freak out whenever I bring my axe to the office. With these, I can politely nudge them to rectify their cultural intolerance :)
I don't know about the moose...I encountered one up in Atikaki and, well, I wished I was anywhere but there (luckily he ignored me). Playing basketball with a moose is just foolish.
These pictures are funny because some of the stereotypes are true. For example, those lumberjack shirts from Marks Work Warehouse are total chick magnets here in Ontario.
Look, bub, they've got ketchup chips, poutine, canadian tuxedos, business meetings about the maple syrup reserve... are you gonna complain about the anatomical inaccuracy of the moose, too?
Otoh...
I'm not really sure why this got posted to HN... it's just a dumb joke. My gf sent me this gallery of butt-shaped mushrooms... are we posting those here now?
edit: come on folks, I'm not posting that here, you know how to search the internet
