2014-03-12

A single-panel comic shows a smiling blond man in a red shirt on a date with a dark-haired person in glasses and a yellow-green shirt, seated at dinner. The man says, "Well, that was a lovely dinner date." The other replies, "It sure was. You can either pay for dinner, or have dinner for free but hear a commercial for products I think you'll like based on the last three hours of conversation." A caption below reads, "The future is terrible." The joke is that the date itself was secretly targeted advertising surveillance. In the votey aftercomic, a close-up of the blond man's face shows him beginning the pitch: "You may want... vocabulary lessons or... a book of fashion tips."