Originally written by Jonathan Ellis But very rarely do these efforts include photographs - and a photograph is very different to an "image" as used by David - of the chairman of the board or whatever? The engineered, manufactured image has little to do with the people behind that image.

Photographs are common in marketing campaigns undertaken by providers of professional services (doctors, accountants, lawyers, etc.), which is another reason translators should use professional photos if they wish to be included in such company.  Photos are also an important part of political marketing.  But what you say is true of consumer products, where characters are often created that personify, frequently in a cartoonish fashion, some properties of the product or are meant to resonate with the intended audience (this is particularly true for products aimed at children such as breakfast cereals). 

Photographs are common in marketing campaigns undertaken by providers of professional services (doctors, accountants, lawyers, etc.), which is another reason translators should use professional photos if they wish to be included in such company.  Photos are also an important part of political marketing.  

And since politics are mentioned here, aren't politicians professionals whose posters at least once every four years appear at every corner of the country trying to sell an image which combined with other adequate campaign strategies result in the successful election of that person in parliament or whatever other legislative assembly?

Not that I've been persuaded to vote for them, but that's

Ines