Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, if you will direct your attention to the screen, I will show you the worst form of advertising I have ever seen...
Now, as some of you may know from previous blogs, I am not a major fan of several types of advertising campaigns. 
#3 The Billboard:
Whenever I see some guy's pasty mug plastered all over a massive billboard near the freeway, the last thing I am thinking about is writing down his number. More often than not, I am thinking things like: "that guy has a 20 Ft. nostril..." or, "Is that a zit?" or possibly, "can that guy's head get any bigger?". Honestly folks, if someone is seriously looking for a Realtor, do you think they are going to pick you simply because they saw your 50 ft. face? I come from the school of thought that teaches you to create a referral based system for generating new clients. This means that you don't have to take out a second mortgage on your home to fund a quasi-Mount Rushmore of yourself.
#2 The Bus Stop Bench
Right under that gloriously vain display is another form of advertising that I find comical. The bus stop bench. The human mind is a wondrous thing. It is capable of taking in thousands of pieces of information every day. When these Realtors decided to place their faces on a surface four inches 
from someone's butt, did they really think that would give them the look they were hoping for?
I was struck by the absurdity of this the other day when I drove by a bus stop and saw a guy who was obviously drunk, snoozing right under the words "We can help!" The top of some Realtor's head was barely visible above the guy's belly.
Now, I know that the folks who use these methods would love to reach through the screen and deliver a solid backhand and tell me how wrong I am. Since I know this to be true, let me just say that I am sure these kinds of advertisements have landed you a client or two. Shoot, maybe they got you a boatload! In that case, let me congratulate you on living in a city where the internet and phone book are banned, thus forcing people to resort to back rests and 20 foot nostrils for guidance. HOWEVER, these two loathsome examples would appear to be the best ideas in the world compared to what I saw a few days ago.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the "Absolute Worst Form of Advertising" I have ever seen!!!!
#1 The Theater preview slot!!
I went to a movie a few days ago and before the film started they showed the making of a few movies and had various other commercials and advertisements. Suddenly, the screen showed a cartoon of a home with a for sale sign in the yard. A voice began speaking, telling the audience that there were several Realtors who could help them buy or sell a home...yada yada yada. The screen then began flashing lists of Realtors with their glamour shot photos and a tiny phone number across the screen. They had about ten Realtors per flash, and each flash lasted about 1.5-2 seconds... HA HA HA!!! I immediately started laughing hysterically as the complete and total idiocy of this campaign struck me!
If you were in the market to buy or sell a home, do you think that you would go to a movie in the hope of landing a quality agent?!? Even if that were the first place you would look, you wouldn't have enough time to get the number off the ad anyway! HA HA! I actually commented on the stupidity of this type of advertising to a female Realtor friend of mine. She said, "Yeah, they don't work very well." After the paramedics removed my foot from my mouth, I asked her what possessed her to do it. She said she had no idea and only got leads for dates from 13 year old boys who started calling her! Classic...
So there you have it, my top three worst wastes of advertising money. Can anyone beat that?!?
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