AdSponge

Small businesses can’t afford copy editors; no wonder this doesn’t happen more!

I’ll be on vacation this coming week, so look for new AdSponge posts starting Monday, July 28. Have a great week!

My girlfriend and I were at Lincoln Park Zoo Tuesday evening, and had a bit of a confrontation with a security guard on duty. We had spent most of the day at North Avenue Beach, and decided to walk through the Zoo to end our day. Lincoln Park Zoo is free and there are many gates where you can freely walk in. These gates have no signage indicating hours or any Zoo information. Blissfully ignorant, we walked into the park to enjoy the animals on display.

Only about half an hour in, a not-so friendly security guard began yelling at us ‘The park is closed!’ We really didn’t expect the Zoo to be closing when it did, but whatever. We kept walking through to begin finding an exit, and the guard kept yelling. ‘You can’t go that way! What are you doing? The park is closed!’ Not understanding why we couldn’t continue on, we kept walking. ‘Hey! That gate is closed!’ referring to a gate a few hundred feet away that we hadn’t even noticed. During all this yelling, she was following us like we were 5th graders on a field trip. After being thwarted by a locked gate, we really were lost for direction. Luckily, a patrolling police officer came to our aid, as he had witnessed some of our verbal beating.

In 10 seconds of conversation, the police officer was absolutely more helpful (and friendly) than the security guard had been for over a minute. The officer told us where exactly to exit the Zoo, and did not yell for going the ‘wrong way’.

So what does this have to do with business, and more importantly marketing? Well, during the guard’s yelling, my first reactions were actually thinking how uneffective her communication was. She offered no assistance, no insight to a solution, and basically had us going in circles. Sound like anyone’s marketing? Maybe customer service has acted this way before? The point being made here is to focus on your communications; is what you’re saying effective? Does it offer support, guidance and insight to a customer’s solution? If not, you may just be coming across as rude, ignorant or stupid, and your customers will go elsewhere without thinking.

The MLB is selling the Authentic Stars and Stripes hats that are being worn by teams this weekend, with a portion of the proceeds going to the Welcome Back Veterans Fund. The hats are available in all 30 teams, so don’t be afraid to show your national and team pride in one fell swoop, and feel good that some of the proceeds are going to a very worthy cause. Click the screen shot to go to the MLB store.

I would like to wish everyone a safe and enjoyable 4th of July! Gotta rest up for a big week coming up- Nascar comes to town next weekend, which means the week will be filled with checking out show car and driver appearances around the area, Pole Day and a Gretchen Wilson concert on Thursday, and all day Friday at the track for the Nationwide Series race.

See ya’ll on Monday!

p.s. The theme of AdSponge is in limbo, and a permanent theme should be coming sometime next week.

I’m having some issues with my site, as you’ll notice by the lack of header. Should have been a quick fix, but turns out I have to dig a little deeper. Also, I’m going to the wonderful Taste of Chicago tomorrow, so I wont be able to work on it for a bit. Should be back sometime Wednesday. See you then!

Gotta love Twitter. There is a hoax going around that Jared Fogel, Subway’s former fat man, has passed away. In fact, there is even an entire site dedicated to his “death”. JaredRemembered.com is full of content, from eulogies and poems about Jared’s life, to his favorite sandwiches. Not sure if Subway is behind this, although it would make sense. Not sure why they would fake Jared’s death; I guess some marketing strategies are just beyond me.

Valero Energy Corporation has released a new TV commercial of late, and to be honest it really grinds my gears. The spot highlights happy consumers driving across the country and participating in activities like biking, swimming, surfing and fishing.

Where the ad fails is its absolute ignorance to the current fuel situation and consumer’s perspectives in America. The voice over states how Americans have a love affair with driving (which is very true, however I don’t think anyone loves driving now with the current gas prices) and how Valero is great because they have ‘quality gasoline’ and ‘pay at the pump convenience.’ Um, duh!? Doesn’t every gas provider say they have quality gas? And show me a gas station today where you can’t pay at the pump, besides maybe in rural areas.

And if that wasn’t enough, just about all the actors in the commercial are young, probably under 30, who the high gas prices should be affecting the most.

Lastly, and this really kills me, everyone is driving an SUV in the spot!

To be fair, I understand their attempt to remind Americans that yes, driving is a great passion and should remain fun, despite high fuel prices. But I think the spot is about 6 months too late. When gas was around $3/gallon this spot would have been more effective and well perceived.

Check out the video here on Valero’s site as it is no longer available on You Tube. Weird.