How Not to Advertise
I saw something similar to this photo today on the Esplanade: a red pickup towing a trailer outfitted with a canvas advertisement for the Chico AirFest. The advertising company, I found out, also sells ad-space on bicycle-towed billboards. That's a pretty cool idea--If I see one of them, I may be more inspired to check out the AirFest.
As it was, however, I did what I felt I needed to do: I called both phone numbers on the billboard (one for the ad company, and one for the Chico Chamber of Commerce), and politely expressed my disapproval of this type of advertising, as I see it as a waste of roadspace and gasoline, and an unnecessary reason to add the emissions of yet another vehicle to our air.
I went on to mention that seeing the AirFest advertised in this manner actually made me LESS likely to want to check out the event, despite the fact that Chico Velo will be offering valet bike parking.
Post-Script:
A few hours after leaving my voicemail message to the ad company, I received a message on my phone from the gentleman towing the billboard. A clear attack on his livelihood, my voicemail had certainly touched a nerve. In his message (which was civil) he called me a "liberal" and "treehugger" (both true), and he expressed his conviction that the whole global warming "panic" is just a "bunch of hype" and that he is "not hurting the Earth at all."
I, of course, respectfully disagree. In my mind, it may be his livelihood, but it is my life.
On the flip side, he also pointed out (as I also mention in this post) that he has a "bicycle billboard" option as a part of his business. So enough criticism, and time for a plug:
All of you folks out there in need of advertising--Use this gentleman and the "bicycle billboard" part of his business! Overwhelm him with requests! And in process, perhaps we can convince the him that despite his opinions regarding global warming, using bikes exclusively (or perhaps a combination of bikes and neighborhood electric vehicles like the GEM) is a more lucrative option for is business than using his pickup.
Comments
Bravo! This is an excellent blog, and I have already learned a couple of things from it.
About two months ago I made the simple decision to stop using plastic grocery bags. Boy, did that ever open up a can of worms (organic, of course). I proudly took my reuseable tote to the grocery store, feeling quite good about myself. As I took everything out of my basket to have the cashier ring me up, I realized that every single thing I place on the conveyor belt was also in a plastic bag!!! I was never conscious of this before.
Now, the battle is on to figure out how to reduce these kinds of purchases, as well. I have stopped using the plastic bags provided for fruits and veggies and just put them into reuseable containers when I get home, but I still have a long way to go to get plastic bags out of my life.
Cathy
Posted by: Cathy | August 23, 2007 10:42 PM
Kudos to you, Cathy. I will soon be posting an entry outlining my thoughts on the whole paper/plastic/reusable bag debate. In the mean time there is a very good article on this topic on page 27 of this week's News and Review.
Battle on!
Posted by: Jeremy Miller | August 23, 2007 11:09 PM
Jeremy,
Nice blog! I don't care for this type of advertising either. However, your complaint call should have been directed at the organization paying for the ad. If enough people called the Chico Chamber of Commerce to complain it is possible they could be shamed into pulling the ad or paying for bike ads only.
Posted by: Sean Baber | August 24, 2007 08:40 AM
Sean,
I voiced my opinion to the Chico Chamber of Commerce as well as to the ad company. But you bring up a good discussion point--Is it more important to direct such concerns to the business or to the client? Did I do the right thing by calling both numbers, or was there a more appropriate course of action for this particular situation? What are the situations where it might be favorable to focus attention on one entity over another?
Posted by: Jeremy Miller | August 24, 2007 08:54 AM
Jeremy,
I believe it is more important to direct energies at the client. If there are no clients, there is no business. I don't really have a problem with you having called both entities, I don't recall you mentioning that in your original blog. Maybe I shouldn't post when half asleep.
Posted by: Sean Baber | August 24, 2007 12:07 PM
this reminds me of my battles against junk mail advertisers.
I hate getting those circulars, like the Market Value Place thing sent every week by the Enterprise Record - it's got a section of want-ads pulled from the Enterprise Record, along with circulars from all the major grocery stores in town.
I always contact these corporate junk advertisers by phone, and that usually works (when I called the clients, I got an ugly letter from a Sacramento attorney threatening me with a libel suit).
It is illegal to send these mailers without a contact address or phone number printed either on the ads themselves or on a separate post card. One Conneticut based ad company took my complaint over their toll-free phone number and sent me a form that would get me off their mailing list for 5 years. Others have followed suit. It's a law now, and it works. I used to get at least three different newspaper sized mailers full of grocery store circulars and coupons - Mailbox Merchants, Smart Shopper, etc - and since I've been sending in these requests, they've stopped.
This weekend I got a letter from Chase Bank with a form that I was asked to mail in so they would keep me off their mailing list. I used to get those Chase Bank offers once a week, until I wrote to them asking them to stop. Now they are sending me a renewal. I didn't keep track, but I know that I have significantly reduced the number of credit card offers and other junk - I used to get piles of it every day. I used to have a 12 pack beer box on my kitchen floor and shred it once a week to keep it from over flowing. Now that has stopped.
But I have repeatedly called and mailed requests for the Enterprise Record to take me off their mailing list, and they ignore me. They admit they send it, and tell me they will write my name and address down and honor my request, but the standard "6 to 8 weeks" comes and goes and that pile of dead tree pulp is faithfully delivered to my mailbox. When I called the last time, I told the operator I would be taping the call, and she freaked out and hung up. I've even left a pretty testy voicemail for David Little, and he's ignored me too.
I got mad at Little because he had just run, not one, but two, Earth day editorials telling all of us to clean up our act. I wrote a letter to the editor, but as far as I know, it was never run.
And I am still getting those circulars, every week. One day soon I will have to take them down to Postmaster Greg Smith, along with a copy of my written request. He promised to do something about it if someone refused to honor my request, we'll see what that something is.
thankyou for listening to my ranting - I think the upside of this post is, most "junk" mailers are on the ball about honoring no-mail requests.
Posted by: juanita | August 27, 2007 07:48 AM