Worst Marketing Decision Ever: Drycleaner Puts "Pro-life" Message on Their Hangers

[kpete]

There is a branch of anti-choice activists that will use pretty much anything as a medium for their message: newspaper ads, graphic signs displayed in front of schools, bus stop benches. You would think they would know well enough to leave one place untouched, though. Wire coat hangers.

You would be wrong.



Springdale Drycleaners of Cincinnati, Ohio, has been etching "Choose Life" ads on wire coat hangers used to hang dry-cleaning.

What's worse is that this seems to be an ongoing effort. Reports of the "choose life" coat hangers already were on the internet back in March of 2011, when Joe.My.God posted a picture of the hanger then. And before that on Regretsy in 2010. So despite over two years of attention, the business continues to think this is an excellent cross-advertising campaign. In fact, the practice was losing them customers as far back as August of 2010, but still the dry-cleaner continues to use hangers as a place to offer inappropriate propaganda.

http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/article/2012/12/07/worst-marketing-decision-ever-drycleaner-puts-pro-life-message-on-their-hangers

[liberal N proud]

1. makes you wonder

[dembotoz]

3. wonder?????????????? nah you pretty much know

[Arkansas Granny]

2. Thick as a brick is the phrase that comes to mind when I see this.

Whoever came up with this idea probably thought they were being clever.

[triplepoint]

9. Something Like This Comes to Mind...

Last edited Tue Dec 11, 2012, 06:06 PM - Edit history (3)

.
.
.
Really don't mind if you sit this one out.
My words but a whisper -- your deafness a shout.
I may make you feel but I can't make you think.
Your sperms in the gutter -- your loves in the sink.
So you ride yourselves over the fields and
You make all your animal deals and
Your wise men don't know how it feels to be thick as a brick.
And the sand-castle virtues are all swept away in
The tidal destruction
The moral melee.
The elastic retreat rings the close of play as the last wave uncovers
The newfangled way.
But your new shoes are worn at the heels and
Your suntan does rapidly peel and
Your wise men don't know how it feels to be thick as a brick.

And the love that I feel is so far away:
Im a bad dream that I just had today -- and you
Shake your head and
Say it's a shame.

Spin me back down the years and the days of my youth.
Draw the lace and black curtains and shut out the whole truth.
Spin me down the long ages: let them sing the song.

See there!a son is born -- and we pronounce him fit to fight.
There are black-heads on his shoulders, and he pees himself in the night.
Well
Make a man of him
Put him to trade
Teach him
To play monopoly and
To sing in the rain.

The poet and the painter casting shadows on the water --
As the sun plays on the infantry returning from the sea.
The do-er and the thinker: no allowance for the other --
As the failing light illuminates the mercenarys creed.
The home fire burning: the kettle almost boiling --
But the master of the house is far away.
The horses stamping -- their warm breath clouding
In the sharp and frosty morning of the day.
And the poet lifts his pen while the soldier sheaths his sword.

And the youngest of the family is moving with authority.
Building castles by the sea, he dares the tardy tide to wash them all aside.

The cattle quietly grazing at the grass down by the river
Where the swelling mountain water moves onward to the sea:
The builder of the castles renews the age-old purpose
And contemplates the milking girl whose offer is his need.
The young men of the household have
All gone into service and
Are not to be expected for a year.
The innocent young master -- thoughts moving ever faster --
Has formed the plan to change the man he seems.
And the poet sheaths his pen while the soldier lifts his sword.

And the oldest of the family is moving with authority.
Coming from across the sea, he challenges the son who puts him to the run.

What do you do when
The old mans gone -- do you want to be him? and
Your real self sings the song.
Do you want to free him?
No one to help you get up steam --
And the whirlpool turns you `way off-beam.

Later.
Ive come down from the upper class to mend your rotten ways.
My father was a man-of-power whom everyone obeyed.
So come on all you criminals!
Ive got to put you straight just like I did with my old man --
Twenty years too late.
Your bread and waters going cold.
Your hair is too short and neat.
Ill judge you all and make damn sure that no-one judges me.

You curl your toes in fun as you smile at everyone -- you meet the stares.
Youre unaware that your doings aren't done.
And you laugh most ruthlessly as you tell us what not to be.
But how are we supposed to see where we should run?
I see you shuffle in the courtroom with
Your rings upon your fingers and
Your downy little sidies and
Your silver-buckle shoes.
Playing at the hard case, you follow the example of the comic-paper idol
Who lets you bend the rules.

So!
Come on ye childhood heroes!
Wont you rise up from the pages of your comic-books
Your super crooks
And show us all the way.
Well! make your will and testament. wont you?
Join your local government.
Well have superman for president
Let robin save the day.

You put your bet on number one and it comes up every time.
The other kids have all backed down and they put you first in line.
And so you finally ask yourself just how big you are --
And take your place in a wiser world of bigger motor cars.
And you wonder who to call on.

So! where the hell was biggles when you needed him last saturday?
And where were all the sportsmen who always pulled you though?
They're all resting down in cornwall --
Writing up their memoirs for a paper-back edition
Of the boy scout manual.

Later.
See there! a man born -- and we pronounce him fit for peace.
There's a load lifted from his shoulders with the discovery of his disease.
Well
Take the child from him
Put it to the test
Teach it
To be a wise man
How to fool the rest.

Quote
We will be geared to the average rather than the exceptional
God is an overwhelming responsibility
We walked through the maternity ward and saw 218 babies wearing nylons
Cats are on the upgrade
Upgrade? hipgrave. oh, mac.

Later
In the clear white circles of morning wonder,
I take my place with the lord of the hills.
And the blue-eyed soldiers stand slightly discoloured (in neat little rows)
Sporting canvas frills.
With their jock-straps pinching, they slouch to attention,
While queueing for sarnies at the office canteen.
Saying -- hows your granny and
Good old ernie: he coughed up a tenner on a premium bond win.
The legends (worded in the ancient tribal hymn) lie cradled
In the seagulls call.
And all the promises they made are ground beneath the sadists fall.
The poet and the wise man stand behind the gun,
And signal for the crack of dawn.
Light the sun.

Do you believe in the day? do you?
Believe in the day! the dawn creation of the kings has begun.
Soft venus (lonely maiden) brings the ageless one.
Do you believe in the day?
The fading hero has returned to the night -- and fully pregnant with the day,
Wise men endorse the poets sight.
Do you believe in the day? do you? believe in the day!

Let me tell you the tales of your life of
Your love and the cut of the knife
The tireless oppression
The wisdom instilled
The desire to kill or be killed.
Let me sing of the losers who lie in the street as the last bus goes by.
The pavements ar empty: the gutters run red -- while the fool
Toasts his God in the sky.

So come all ye young men who are building castles!
Kindly state the time of the year and join your voices in a hellish chorus.
Mark the precise nature of your fear.
Let me help you pick up your dead as the sins of the father are fed
With
The blood of the fools and
The thoughts of the wise and
From the pan under your bed.
Let me make you a present of song as
The wise man breaks wind and is gone while
The fool with the hour-glass is cooking his goose and
The nursery rhyme winds along.

So! come all ye young men who are building castles!
Kindly state the time of the year and join your voices in a hellish chorus.
Mark the precise nature of your fear.
See! the summer lightning casts it's bolts upon you
And the hour of judgement draweth near.
Would you be
The fool stood in his suit of armour or
The wiser man who rushes clear.
So! come on ye childhood heroes!
Wont your rise up from the pages of your comic-books
Your super-crooks and
Show us all the way.
Well! make your will and testament.
Wont you? join your local government.
Well have superman for president
Let robin save the day.
So! where the hell was biggles when you needed him last saturday?
And where were all the sportsmen who always pulled you through?
They're all resting down in cornwall -- writing up their memoirs
For a paper-back edition of the boy scout manual.

Of course
So you ride yourselves over the fields and
You make all your animal deals and
Your wise men don't know how it feels to be thick as a brick.

Ian Anderson/Jethro Tull, "Thick as a Brick"


Ian Anderson's (Lead Singer of Jethro Tull) Interpretation of "Thick as a Brick"

"Thick as a brick" is a slang phrase from the north of England, where I spent my (well, some of my) growing-up years. To describe someone as being 'as thick as a brick' meant to describe them as being stupid, basically. You know, to be 'thick', as in 'thick-headed'; thick as a 'brick' being a small, dense object. So I was really talking about people being intellectually incapable of absorbing whatever it might have been put across in those slightly spoofish, bombastic terms in the lyrics of the album."
(Excerpt from Ian's 12/23/91 interview on the US radio show, 'In The Studio - Thick As A Brick')

"The way that I write allows a lot of people to interpret in their own fashion. I am not just saying one thing. I am saying a lot of things to a lot of people. The music means different things to different people." "I want to insist that every listener makes a tiny bit of effort to reach the music and interpret what I am saying. My words put out feelers. It's up to listeners to pick up on them and get from them what they wish - I'm not attempting to be clear-cut. I want to deal in terms that invite questioning. Balm for the masses is no use whatsoever." "We do tend to judge music on its rhythms and whether you can tap your foot to it. But most of our music deserves to be listened to several times. I'm still listening to Beethoven and I still don't understand what he is doing, but I'll get there some day. God knows that whatever I ultimately make of Beethoven I will never derive the same interpretation as what was intended - and I hope he respects my right to my interpretation - but at least I have a willingness to try to understand it." "I don't really want to get into specific comparisons and explanations, especially about Passion Play and Thick As A Brick. I don't want to start people off trying to figure out where the new album is in relation to the last two. Believe it or not, they all mean something." "It's distinctly worrying, because I know that the last few records have been difficult to listen to. WarChild, so I'm told, is a lot more accessible. I don't know if I like that or not. I've started to worry that perhaps people will think it's a simple record and they'll play it at parties and they'll play it when they're stoned and they'll play it in their car - instead of actually sitting down and making an effort to listen." (Excerpts from Ian's interview with Melody Maker magazine published in their 12/07/74 issue)

[Arkansas Granny]

22. Nope. More like dense.

http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/4/messages/723.html

[Major Nikon]

4. You can't fix stupid

[AnneD]

13. So true...

Soon they will be outlawing knitting needles and crochet hooks.

[vinny9698]

5. Donald Trump is doing the same thing with his birther nonsense

He is alienating his customer base for his made in China clothing line that they sell at Macy's. But Macy's board has the same political views as the Donald so it is tolerated.

[Divine Discontent]

37. pretty soon that crap of his will be given as unsellable clearance items, and even homeless folks

may think twice about wearing it. if you know of him, and you don't like him, you'd try and find something else to wear in the charity box!

[patrice]

6. Oh, I don't know. Could have been an intentional "Fuck you!" nt

[FarCenter]

7. The local liquor store put up PETA posters

I haven't been back.

[Raine]

39. Even though I support PETA I don't understand why any business would want to turn-off

half their consumer base by supporting a controversial issue or group.

[OnlinePoker]

46. Maybe they think living by their principles is more important than pure profits.

At least we know where they stand. If our belief systems are different than theirs, we can choose not to do business there or keep going there and not give a damn about their policies (or make comments contrary to that belief whenever you go there).

[femrap]

8. Before I clicked on

the thread, I thought, "I bet that's Springdale outside of Cincinnati." Sure enough!

Cincinnati is Catholic Central. All the German Catholics headed to Southern Ohio while the Protestant ones stayed in Central Ohio.

You'd think they'd be in an uproar over the pedophile priests....no, abortion is the topic of choice. And there is absolutely no reasoning with them. NONE. Don't waste your breath.

I gotta say, I hope this particular small business goes BANKRUPT....OK, not that bad...just has to stop the Anti-Choice crap so the business can stay afloat.

Now if a drycleaners had a Pro-Choice ad, the bible thumpers would be out en masse. But the dems in S. OH are unlikely to picket this place....they're too busy trying to make a living. I'm glad I don't live there anymore. The entire area needs a couple of helicopters flying around with burning sage hanging from a rope to cleanse the area of bad wuju.

[Odin2005]

17. Have you read "American Nations" by Collin Woodard?

The book is about those geographic settlement patterns you mention and talks about how they effect voting patterns still today. NE Ohio is very liberal because it was settled by people from New England. Southern Ohio is conservative because it was settled by German Catholics and folks from Appalachia.

You will never look at American political and cultural geography the same way, again. It's a great book!

[TeamPooka]

18. and OH has no chance for resettlement like FL or CA went thru....

over the years because different people want to move and live there.

[oberle]

35. Nobody really

wants to live here. We do because we're stuck.

[Patiod]

23. Sounds like "Nine Nations of North America"

by Joel Garreau. As someone who used to subscribe to "American Demographics" magazine, I found your suggestion fascinating, and just requested it from my local library! Thanks Odin!

[dixiegrrrrl]

33. What an interesting topic...

I will look for the book.
Thanks for the tip.

[femrap]

57. Thanks for the

tip. Maybe it'll give me a good idea as to where to move to someday.

I lived in Lakewood, OH way back in 1970-1972 (first suburb west of Cleveland). I thought they were some of the meanest people I had ever met.

Someone told me that East of Cleveland was where the cool people lived.

I'll have to read this book. Where the hell did all the people in Kansas come from????

[Ezlivin]

10. Bring in any live fetus for a free Martinizing!

Don't forget to get your complimentary vaginal exam!

[triplepoint]

11. Here's The Dominionists' Directory....

http://www.shepherdsguide.com

Here's where I found the above link:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/07/20/360129/-Dominionism-s-parallel-economy-Pt-1-The-dominionist-business-directory

[GoneOffShore]

21. Not a lot of those businesses in Philadelphia.

But there wouldn't be.

[BainsBane]

12. time to find a new dry cleaner

Why are right wingers intent on reducing their customer base? Talk about a bad business decision.

[crim son]

40. Maybe they believe they will be rewarded in heaven. n/t

[OldDem2012]

14. Disgusting. nt.

[NICO9000]

15. They should read "Choose another dry cleaner!"

[Odin2005]

16. IMO this cluelessness is an example of why things are going backwards for women.

Gen-Xers and we Millennials have no memory of life before Roe v Wade, we do not have the collective memory of the horrors back-alley abortions like the Boomers do. We have become complacent.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

19. i agree, Odin

I work at a college. Once I saw this graffiti in an elevator: "Feminism is stupid"


Btw.

[SoapBox]

25. Exactly.

..to odin2005's OP...not that Feminism is stupid.

Just to clarify.

[FlyByNight]

20. Real subtle

How about, "Choose Tact", instead?

[SoapBox]

24. Sick.

...I can't even work up a post.

[hifiguy]

26. Dumber than a bag of hammers.

The reichwingnuts are truly beyond intelligence or irony.

[progressoid]

29. That's insulting...

to hammers.

[jmowreader]

27. Follow the link and check out the reviews

Except for the obviously planted GREAT!!! Reviews and the ones from people who only shop on price, no one likes these guys - not because of their political views but because of their lousy work. Apparently you can take a blue suit in there and have it come back a green suit whether you wanted that or not.

Boycotting this place over its religious views? The Creation Museum is there and I don't think land prices were as big a motivation as being close to millions of probable customers within a two-hour radius.

[thesquanderer]

53. I think they're next to the place you bring your gays to be straightened. (n/t)

[jmowreader]

56. They ARE that place

The gay straightener is between the solvent tank and the box of coat hangers. They stick your gay in it, press a button, and five minutes later he comes out with a Bible in one hand and a girlfriend in the other.

At leasr that's what the brochure says. In reality all it does is steam wrinkles out of your clothes while you're wearing them.

[DinahMoeHum]

28. O.M.F.G.

how dumb can they be??????



So funny, it hurts. Literally.


Then, you frown.

Then you cry.

Then you get real angry.

[kirby]

30. It should say...

Keep abortion legal so you wont be using one of these!

[randomtagger]

31. This isn't politics,

this is superb IRL trolling at it's finest. I almost had a lethal lulz overdose when I saw it.

[blackspade]

32. Teh stoooped! It hurts!

[shireen]

34. do they realize what they're doing?

idiots.

[AnnieK401]

50. I was asking myself the very same question.

I seriously doubt it, how could they?

[LynneSin]

36. I swore this was going to be a Onion article

these people are idiots!

[Divine Discontent]

38. just when you think there can't be anything else stoooopid rethugs can come up with to shock us...

they prove that there will always be a new rethug invention of stupidity!

[Coyotl]

41. It is not the bright end of the IQ scale over there, you know!

If they had the IQs, they would be over here

[Swede Atlanta]

42. Are they that stupid?

the coat hanger has long been the image of the home remedy to an unwanted pregnancy. An image of mutilation, infertility, or even death.

These guys are total dweebs.

[Love Bug]

43. Wow. Sounds like the kind of place

where the gene pool can only be improved by nuclear fallout. Just sayin.

[MH1]

44. sick and pathetic.

I would never go back to a business that was that offensive in their advertising.

[Garion_55]

45. my contribution

[SunSeeker]

47. This is from The Onion, right? nt

[pstokely]

48. The Chick-Fil-A of drycleaners?

Have they scheduled a Springdale Drycleaners appreciation day yet?

[Warren Religion]

49. You have to STUDY to be that stupid!

[RegieRocker]

51. Is that anything like

Smith & Wesson putting it on their gun boxes? Dry cleaning uses some very dangerous chemicals.

[iamthebandfanman]

52. "Make safe abortion illegal! Use this hanger instead!" n/t

[Separation]

54. Oh the iron-e

[tpsbmam]

55. No wire hangers!

No wire hangers! No wire hangers!

(Exposing my low-level TV watching back in the '80s when "Mommie Dearest" was shown on TV.)

In this case, it would indeed be no wire hangers! Like many, they'd have lost my business.....fast! Stupid, stupid, stupid move on their part.

Right-wingers seem to think everyone is in their corner. You'd think elections would give them a clue -- the majority don't agree with them. Duh.