A couple of weeks ago, there was a big hullabaloo in Lockport, N.Y., about a billboard being used by self-storage facility in the area. There were stories in the news and local paper, and community residents were in an "outrage." Why? Because the advertisement includes the word "hell." Now there are some people saying the facility operators are going to burn there, just for using such horrific language. (OK, I don't honestly know if they've said that, but it seems like the kind of thing an uptight censorist would say, doesn't it?)
The sign is actually a play on the phrase "when hell freezes over." It includes a picture of a road-style sign that reads "HELL" in block letters, with ice encrusting the edges. The rest of the ad reads, "Moving again? We can help!" According to Room to Spare Owner Wendy Markle, it was intended to be a joke, related to the fact that most people find the process of moving extremely unpleasant, and may even proclaim that they won't do it again "until..."
In a story released by WKBW, Wendy also said she is shocked about the reaction she's received because she's used more controversial advertisements in the past. Maybe it's not just about language. Folks don't like to be reminded about potential outcomes, especially when they fear the worst. So maybe a giant "HELL" sign makes them quake in their hypocritical boots.
One guy said he was concerned about the children, that kids can read those bad words. What about "hell" is new to kids? Any one of them who goes to Sunday School is bludgeoned with the word from the age of four or five. I know, because I was raised Catholic, and I attended catechism. Our teachers did their very best to convince us that we were always teetering perilously on the precipice of the "dark abyss." Behind every innocent desire lurked a tempation by Satan! So "hell" was not a word I needed to learn from a billboard.
And if kids don't learn it at church, they'll learn it at home or at school, sure enough. By the age of seven, I had a vernacular so colorful, I could make a truck driver blush—just from listening to the grown-ups and older kids. Little pitchers really do have big ears.
So people need to stop picking on the marketers and lighten the HECK up. There are only so many brilliant ad campaigns out there, and the markets get more competitive all the time. So if a storage operator wants to step outside the box (no pun intended) and try something a little out there, I say go for it. Those who are offended can avert their eyes to more wholesome scenery, like a nativity scene or a box of newborn puppies or some daffodils. Whatever it takes to keep them from whining to the media about one more "corrupter of society."
Society is corrupt, folks, controversial billboards or not. And sometimes you gotta shake people up to get their attention. If Wendy's advertisement did nothing else, it sure caught an eye or two.
Anybody got another unconventional marketing tactic to share? I'd love to hear about it.