Sizzler

What touches us so very deeply about this is its simplicity. We don't mean the primitivist graphic design. We mean the so-obvious-it's-invisible shift that this matchbook embodies.

The home of steak lovers.

Do you see it?

Look again.

Who are the steak lovers? Are they the putative customers of the Sizzler chain of steakhouses? Or are they, as depicted here, the cows—that is, the walking, living steaks—who are lovers?

For that matter, what family are we talking about? The diners who pull up and clamor for steak, or the mommy cow, daddy steer, and baby calf?

The purpose of this deliberate muddle, this implicit ambiguity, is to imbue a steakhouse with the traditional values of love and marriage. That suicidal animals should be this commercial message's vehicle is wearyingly familiar.

(Image source. Information on the image's Creative Commons license.)