These photos might give you a few marketing ideas … or not.
This is a popular ice cream stand that recently re-branded.
Don’t let the cow that looks like a liquored up horse with a 5 o’clock shadow fool you – the ice cream goes down singing hymns. But you can barely see the best part of their brand – the place’s name, MOO La La.
My advice – less bad cow and more MOO La La.
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Here’s a sign that sits atop a bakery wholesale outlet store, revealing a rye sense of humor.
Nothing like a good pun, eh? Talk about granular marketing!
I would have stopped in for a loaf of french bread (it’s fantastic), but the store was closed.
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And finally these, which have nothing to do with marketing, but make for a nice study in creativity. Here’s a pedestrian crossing sign, one of many sprinkled throughout an upscale outdoor shopping mall.
But one merry prankster added this little nuance – a hula hoop.
Unless this is where people with hula hoops are supposed to cross; I don’t know.
Seen any good signs lately?
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That drunken horsecow thingy looks like the sort of person you’d cross the road to avoid. And while we’re at it, what on earth does “Add a topper” mean?
My all-time favourite bad business pun has to be the mobile snack bar I once saw on Dartmoor called “Hound of the Basket Meals”. I was too busy laughing to buy anything from it.
And my favourite bizarre sign was very official-looking and simply said: “This sign does not apply at weekends”. Start to think about it too much and you end up trapped on a weird intellectual and philosophical Moebius strip – if the “This sign does not apply at weekends” sign doesn’t apply at weekends, does it or doesn’t it?
Clare, Those are fabulously funny sign stories … thank you for sharing! “Add a topper” must mean add a topping, such as M&M’s or pecans … but “topper” isn’t normal usage, at least anywhere I’ve ever been. I was too focused on the mad cow to even notice it.
OMG, you are so right about the cow! And the name is indeed a great choice.
Speaking of signs, there’s one that still haunts me. i’ve only encountered it in Bulgaria, in certain areas, and no one I’ve ever asked about it could tell me what it meant. The general idea was that it warned people against black holes
I dare you to beat:
Framers of the Lost Art
Saw that up in Mystic Connecticut 12 years ago and remember it to this day.
Alina, Barbara, I’m afraid my horsecow can’t compete with either of your signs. I’ll keep trying – you set a high bar.
Love the hoola hoop, Brad! And I agree that the MOO La La sign’s design is too busy, making it difficult to see the name of the establishment. They would have done better with a simpler design — a plainer background behind the name or more color contrast between the two to make the name stand out.
Jeanne, The hula hoop sign makes you want to dust off a hula hoop, doesn’t it?
Well, I got one for ya: No Spittin’! I’d say it’s pretty clear, wouldn’t you?
On a more obscure note, there’s a nursery here that puts up a sign now and then that reads, “GIANT TREE SALE”
I’ve always wondered… is it a really big sale of trees, a sale on a really big tree, or a really big salesman selling little tiny trees?
Robert, You are the master of silly signage – thanks for the No Spittin Image.
The same GIANT idea has occurred to me as well. It’d make a great cartoon!
Don’t know if I’m quite that limber anymore!
Am I the only one who noticed rye humour about the bakery outlet?
Hairdressing names are an artform in small Scottish towns.
Curl Up and Dye is a favourite of mine.
There are some good ones locally – I’ll see if I can get some photos for you some time
Joanna, Hairdressing salons seem to attract funny names, but Curl Up and Dye is the best I’ve ever heard! Thanks for being a catcher of the rye … it was kind of obscure, sandwiched between the photos and all.