The BadAds Weblog: July 2003

Getting Taken for a Ride

Pedal cabs are a comfy, low-key way to travel around big cities. You see the sights, rest your feet, and check out the buff stature of the dude pedalling you around. Sure, you suck up a little exhaust, but you'd be doing that anyway.

Well, now prepare to suck up even more indignity. Billboards, which once were mere stationary blights, have now moved onto pedal cabs. Yes, the decidedly low-tech pedal cab has now become the repository of ads on its sides, back, canopy, and even the roll bars. As Kathy Prentice says approvingly in her outdoor advertising column in Media Life Magazine, "These rolling billboards can venture into areas where traditional signage is restricted."

Gary Gekse, owner of Phoenix-based Pedaltek, goes even further in his praise. "The difference with pedicabs is they're sitting at eye level. You're not driving by them at 60 mph. The drivers are in constant circulation, so the chance to see one of them two or three or four times a night is high. They go places where billboard trucks can't go. On the Fourth of July we went up and down Mill Avenue in Tempe where cars can't go, but the crowds do."

We're sure the crowds really appreciated it, Gary. Thanks for brightening their lives.

Among the companies who have already taken the plunge in spoiling this method of transportation are Wells Fargo, Budweiser, Kinko's, General Motors, Hooters, J.P. Morgan, Altoids, Microsoft/MSN, Yahoo, Celestial Seasonings, Sam Adams, and Coca-Cola. We've included contact information for these companies below, which makes it easy for you to write and tell them what you think of their intrusive ads.

Wells Fargo: Online Contact Form

Budweiser: Online Contact Form

Kinko's: customerrelations@kinkos.com

GM: Online Contact Form

Hooters Marketing & Media: hooterspr@hooters.com

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.
270 Park Ave.
New York, NY 10017
Phone: 212-270-6000
Fax: 212-270-2613
CEO: William B. Harrison Jr.

Altoids: Online Contact Form (Click on "Contact" in the lower right corner)

Celestial Seasonings: Online Contact Form

Sam Adams: response@samadams.com

The Coca-Cola Company: Online Contact Form

Microsoft/MSN: askbill@microsoft.com

July 21, 2003

I Call, You Call, We All Call for Do-Not-Call

Despite the best efforts of telemarketers, the Federal Trade Commission's do-not-call registry finally went into operation at the end of June. Four days later, more than 10 million phone numbers had been added to the list, with another 3 million numbers awaiting confirmation. The FTC expects more than 60 million numbers to be registered by the end of the service's first year.

With a response like this, telemarketers should be crying over their autodialers, tearful at the prospect of no longer being able to bother us. In an Associated Press article by David Ho, Louis Mastria, a spokesperson for the Direct Marketing Association said that the telemarketing industry estimates that its business will be cut in half, resulting in a lost $50 billion in sales each year. Said Mastria, "You're talking about a big hit to the economy and a big hit to our industry. There may be some job losses."

Boo, hoo, hoo. We suggest looking for work in industries that don't rely upon annoying people to make a living.

The FTC do-not-call list isn't perfect; calls from charities, pollsters, and those representing politicians, as well as calls from businesses from which you've purchased, leased or rented goods, are all exempted from the telemarketing prohibition. Still, this service is a good first step. To sign up, visit www.donotcall.gov or call 888-382-1222 toll-free. You must call from the number that you want added to the list, and online registrations must be confirmed by e-mail, so telemarketers can't claim that numbers are added by anyone other than their owners.

Once you register, keep track of who makes any telemarketing calls after September 2003 because such fiends can be fined for up to $11,000 per call – but only if you report them to the FTC.

Finally, blessed relief from the scourge of humanity. Now if only we could nuke some spammers....

July 7, 2003

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