Monday, September 18, 2006

how d'ya like them apples?

One of my favourite things about Beijing airport are the smiling apples that sit on the security check desks in the domestic terminal:



I asked an officer why they were there and she replied "For the smile". Of course. I don't know why this need 'for a smile' came about but I'm guessing that the brief was to make an official area seem less formal and more welcoming. If I'd had that brief I'm not sure my answer would have involved drawing smiling faces on apples, but that's my lack of imagination for you.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yet another thing the Americans could learn from the Chinese. Better a smiling apple than a sour-faced immigration official and a fingerprint scanner...

ed tam said...

Increasingly it's my believe that brands set up promises and it's the little things they do that fulfils the promise. That makes you feel good. Bit like a wedding vow and ongoing niceness from your partner?