Saturday, March 21, 2009

Spinsters

It's getting to be that time of year... spring, when all the sign spinners come out to the street corners to ply their trade. (Well, actually -- to shill someone else's stuff.)



I don't think I quite understand sign spinning as a method of advertising. I get that the principle is supposed to be that you notice the sign more because somebody is standing there waving it, but I for one thinks it makes it a hell of a lot harder to read the sign.

It almost seems to me like part of the sign spinning principle is supposed to be playing on people's emotions and getting them to pity the poor spinner. I mean sure, the weather's nice now, but there will be even more spinners out on street corners when it gets to be 90 degrees or more this summer. And when you see that poor guy standing there in the blazing sun (ear buds in, naturally), doesn't part of you want to take a little more interest in what he's pushing?

If that's really what's going on, I think it might just say something slightly disturbing about our society.

1 comment:

Sangediver said...

It's funny you mention it, I was wondering the cvery same thing a few days ago. Being tax time there are a ton of guys dressed as the Statue of Liberty on street corners these days. This is pretty much just disturbing, it certainly doesn't make me want to get my taxes done by these people...