Radiohead Doesn’t Help Iranian Sex Lives

No matter how you feel about its music, Radiohead is, inarguably, one of the biggest bands in the world. Since its beginning in the mid-80s, it’s gone on to sell tens of millions of records while also becoming a critical darling. Thom Yorke has been its face all along, his haunting falsetto often bringing lyrics about fear, depression and self-loathing to life.

And now you can see his mug adorning the cover of a sex book in Iran!

As reported by Gawker, journalist Sobhan Hassanvand recently shared a photo of Yorke over Twitter. The Radiohead frontman can be seen staring forlornly from the front of a guide intended to help Iranian couples facing sexual difficulties.

Strangely enough, famed author John Updike is also on the cover of the book, whose title translates to “Marital and Sex Problems in Men,” according to the New York Daily News.

What can we learn from this amazingly random discovery (besides the fact that some dude in Iran seriously needs to get a Shutterstock account and stop pulling pics of random depressed-looking guys off the Internet)? Imagery is vital in marketing, and using the wrong image can overshadow whatever message you’re trying to sell.

“Every idiot knows that,“ you might say, which would be rude. But if that’s the case, how come so many brands continue to use boring stock photos of generic white people in business attire high fiving in a random corporate boardroom? Or, even worse, they make a terribly calculated play for diversity with a stock picture featuring a person of every race and ethnicity. Also high fiving. Somehow in the same boardroom. Spooky.

“Oh, look, an Indian! And a black person! And a woman who might be gay! We have to buy [INSERT BRAND]’s product now!,” said no one ever.

Making sure you’re using the right images in your marketing has always been important, but in today’s social media-saturated world, where people scroll at the speed of light and find their eyes glazing over at more than a line or two of text, pictures are worth far more than just a thousand words.

Taking the time to choose the right ones, or, better yet, hiring a graphic designer who can help you create truly original imagery, can pay off in spades.

At the very least you’ll have more people thinking about your brand than the guy who sang “Karma Police” helping Middle Eastern couples work it out in the bedroom.