“It’s nice to see a man looking like a complete piece of meat for a product endorsement,” said Rhonda from the Heidi Salon in the Merchandise Mart. She and her colleagues Monica and Patty were taking a little Monday-afternoon diet Coke break in the lobby.
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Actually, it was a big diet Coke break. It was the real thing. Lucky Vanous was sitting at a red-clothed table on top of a platform signing autographed pictures of himself. He’s the guy in the diet Coke commercial, the construction worker who takes off his shirt and drinks diet Coke while the working women watch him from their office window. He’s going around the country meeting thousands of women who wish he’d drink a few diet Cokes under their window.
“He’s darling,” said Monica.
They came, women of all kinds, one by one, some carrying infants, to meet him. Chin, chest, or midriff resting against the table, head forward, eyes down, the women greeted him with big, entranced demure grins on their faces.
“What nationality are you?” (Czech.)
“Hi, I’m so nervous–but I love you.” (Lucky tapped the ring on his left hand.)
Other men weren’t as bold. Or as interested. One little boy stood on the sidelines waiting while his mother and little sister got their pictures autographed. Men from the offices upstairs wandered by with Starbucks cups and frozen yogurt, wondering what all the commotion was about.
