The initial assignment for this photo was to pick a food and shoot an advertisement for it. I decided that, since sex sells, I would pick a fairly phallic food and attack it from that angle. Sure, I could have gone with a banana or a cucumber, but I figured those were too obvious. So I picked a Tootsie Roll. I tried to shoot the photo as a sort of candy ad parody, with a non-too-subtle phallic undertone.

This photo eventually was on display in Norther Arizona University's School of Communication building, where a particular group of elderly ladies was overheard discussing how offensive it is. While my intent was certainly not to offend, I am a believer that a photo that evokes a response like that must be an effective one.