Post-Election Recovery
November 9, 2006
Driving to work this morning, I saw a man standing at a busy street corner.
Instinctively I looked away, assuming he would be holding a sign telling me how to vote. A split second later, remembering through my morning fog that the election was over, I looked again. He was just waiting for the light to change.
What a relief it is to have the yard signs removed! As a writer, I tend to skim everything I see, looking for words. The last few months have been excruciating.
But now I’m considering selling media space in my front yard.
Why not? If I can put a sign in my yard for a candidate – or a sign bearing a realtor’s name – can I put up a yard sign advertising Diet Coke?
I imagine there’s some sort of ordinance preventing this, but it does make sense.
In the last days before the election I saw a yard sign in my neighborhood that simply read “Jesus.”
In context (near yards with as many as 10 different signs, expressing opinions on every candidate and ballot issue), this was very refreshing. A single word in black type on a white background. It actually made me wonder why no candidate had tried that.
Then I wondered what would happen if someone put up a sign that read “Mohammad.”
In this community, that wouldn’t go over so well. In fact, many people were afraid to put up signs declaring their views in this last election. Even though some of them were quite passionate about the issue in question. This fascinates me – not that people care what other people think – but that one position was somehow socially unacceptable, even though it was the majority opinion.
But, back to my plan. When we put up a sign that reads “Jesus” or “Candidate Name,” we’re not being paid – we’re expressing a point of view.
However, when we solicited estimates to have our house painted, one of the contenders said he’d knock 50 dollars off the price if we put a sign advertising his company in our front yard.
If I can accept payment (essentially) in return for putting a painting company’s sign in my yard, I should be able to put up that Diet Coke sign. In return for, say, $300 a month.
What do you say, Atlanta?
Comments
Leave a Reply
- BuyMoreCoffeePlease3Euro
- Holidays at HenkinSchultz
- Jetpacks in South Dakota
- The Difference Between the Colas…
- Happy Election Day
- HS Happenings
- E-mail Subscribers…
- The Good, the Bad, the Nike
- Saying what you mean. Showing what you say.
- When the audience helps. Or not.
- jetpacks: Just doing my job, ma’am. Enjoy your Thanksgiving.
- jetpacks: Very niceTM (Especially shot #2.)
- Sharon: I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I...
- bg: This election is too important too not vote early—and often!
- Paul: Worthington, MN is the Turkey Capital of the world. Much love.
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- January 2008
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
- December 2006
- November 2006
- October 2006
- September 2006
- August 2006
About HenkinSchultz
HenkinSchultz is an agency. An advertising and marketing and branding and design and production agency. All of those things, and then some.
But, underneath all that, we're really a bunch of thinkers. As in, we think about stuff, both pertinent and not, with and without boundaries, as if our lives depended on it. And this right here, Post Haste, is where we write about it.
Visit us at http://www.henkinschultz.com.