So, I’m riding around, protecting and serving, and notice the sign holder on the corner. He’s a tall, skinny, white guy with long, stringy, blond hair and a tie dye t-shirt. He kind of looks like Kurt Cobain, pre shotgun blast. He has got his head phones on and he is jamming. He is jumping and dancing and twirling his sign. As I am waiting for the light to change, I am trying to read his sign but I find myself getting dizzy from all the spinning. I finally realized that he is advertising for the Pizza place in the nearby shopping center. Scratch that one off of places to eat at. I don’t want any of their mushrooms. It looks like this kid is still enjoying their effects.
In another part of town, the little hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant has a fat Mexican guy wearing a sombrero and holding a sign advertising “.99 Tacos.” The t-shirt he is wearing looks like he wore it to clean a septic tank out the day before. He just stands there and raises the sign up and down. I don’t think I will be stopping there for lunch.
A few miles down the road, there is a big black guy dressed in a aqua green Statue of Liberty costume. He has crazy eyes and is holding a sign advertising “Tax Preparation.” He just stands there and stares at motorists that are stopped for the red light. I am in a police car and carrying a gun and this guy is creeping me out. I notice the lady sitting next to me in traffic hits her door lock button. No, I don’t think I will be stopping there to get my taxes done.
I know times are hard and many small businesses are shutting their doors. I can’t but wonder, though, about the advertising strategy of these three businesses. These guys seem to be going out of their way to ensure that no one patronizes them…
What do you think? Does this kind of advertising attract or repel you?
