· by James Archer  · 1 min read

Top 10 Stock Photography Cliches

A tongue in cheek tour of corporate stock photo tropes, from triumphant thumbs and flirty headsets to manure powered growth and rockside WiFi, exposing how cheesy visuals quietly sabotage authenticity.


1. The Handshake of Synergy: You’ve made the sale and closed the deal. They can’t back out now—you shook on it!


2. The Flirty Customer Service Gal: Operators are standing by to take your call…and your heart.


3. The Big Thumbs of Triumph: Good job, ace. You’ve saved the company again.


4. The Romantic Glow of the Laptop: You’ve stayed up late working on those TPS reports, and there’s just something magical about that LCD glow…


5. Growth: The Handful of Manure: We can make your business thrive like this sturdy sprout. Just hope the wind doesn’t pick up.


6. The Air Up There: So, what’s it like being 17 feet tall?


7. The United Colors of Megacorp: Does outsourcing to India count as being diverse?


8. Lise Gagne’s Business Folks: You won’t find cheaper executives anywhere.


9. Ewa, the Everywoman: Abu took great shots already, but marrying Ewa certainly didn’t hurt his stock photography revenue.


10. Telecommuting from the Edge: How can she get broadband wifi there, when I can barely get it in the next room?

    I'm James Archer.This is why firms hire me.

    3 decades in marketing 20+ years in the C-suite Hundreds of firms advised

    I know how to do this in the real world:

    • I’ve spent 20+ years in C-level positions
    • I ran a successful marketing agency for 12 years
    • I’ve helped 100s of businesses from startups to Fortune 500s
    • My work’s been featured in The New York Times, Inc. Magazine, Fast Company, and Entrepreneur.
    • I’ve delivered over 100 speaking engagements and written countless articles on these strategies.
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