A thoroughly satisying coffee break

Last night, while suffering from an annoying bout of writers block, I was idly browsing the net when I stumbled across the Carte Noire's Readers homepage (http://www.cartenoire.co.uk/). For those of you not aware, Carte Noire, purveyors of slightly-better-than-average instant coffee, have come up with an unusual marketing campaign to help flog (er, I mean promote) their products. The basic premise involves a handful of famous and somewhat attractive actors, reading excerpts from romantic classics, while staring seductively at you through the camera lens. Oh, and there's usually a cup of coffee knocking about somewhere in the background too.

The target market is, obviously, female. Now, as a woman in today's post-feminist world, I know I should be outraged, indignant, offended. How dare they assume that women are so shallow as to fall for such a cynical marketing ploy? George Clooney flogging Nespresso was bad enough, but this is on an altogether different level! The cheek of it!

As it turned out, I am not as impervious to shameless advertising as I thought, because lovely reader, I was well and truly sucked in from the get-go ... in fact, I was captivated, spellbound, entralled. Oh, the deliciousness of it! Joseph Fiennes reading Far from the Madding Crowd in his languorously dulcet tones, Dominic West staring straight into your soul while reading Lady Chatterley's Lover - who could possibly resist? Indeed, who would want to resist?

So thank you ingenious marketing people at Carte Noire ... I may not convert to your coffee, but I know which website I'll be browsing during my next coffee break!