Flyers on car windshields to advertise?

[jdouglas003]

Just wondering what are everyone's thoughts on placing flyers on car windshields to advertise your business or service.

Is it illegal or does that vary from city to city?

I am mostly annoyed when people leave flyers on my windshield but if its a service that I'm interested in I do read it.

Let me know what you guys think.

Thanks

[cosworth]

Quickest way to kill your business. People are pretty enviro conscious these days and a little paper like that seems to upset most.

Nothing screams "budget" like windshield pamphlets. Avoid.

[Steve Parr]

I've done it.

I had some postcards made at Vista Print. When I was first starting to build up some business, I'd slip them under the wiper blades of cars outside whatever club I was shooting in that night.

It seemed to work okay; I got a few gigs out of it. I don't make a habit now, though. Frankly, I'm tired of shooting bands in clubs with crappy lighting.

Did it work? Yeah, I guess it did...

[Road2Show]

I'm one of those who would strongly oppose this tactic. I really hate getting back to my car finding these things on my windshield. In my mind, it's instantly "junk mail"

[mrerico]

what about if you leave a bunch of business cards at college?

Alot of people do that to promote things around college, I too was thinking of leaving some business cards somewhere for people to see

[Robert16]

I hate anyone messing with my car and so do most people I know! I really wouldn't put flyers on car windows. They are a pain. You have to take it off (if it rains it's worse), then go find somewhere to dump it or else your littering, or messing up your car. The only reason I read them is to make a mental note never to use the services of the people who put it on there in the first place.... grrr!
Sorry about the rant..... it has been a long Monday.

[asysin2leads]

Nothing torques me off more than seeing a flyer on my window. Like Cos said, it's the cheap way out. There are much more effective ways to advertise.

[ironchef31]

People see paper on the windshield and think PARKING TICKET!!
Then they see your company name. Not a very good association.

[rhys]

I chased one guy who was posting crap on people's mailboxes. I ran him right out of my area!

[MJPhotos24]

We used to do it for shows, to promote concerts - it was common place and the fans expected it and used to it, always took the fliars with them to see what was coming up. For photography though I just wouldnt do it, don't want my name in association with people just randomly going to their car and seeing it.

[JWright]

When I worked at one of our local universities, we had a policy that if we found someone placing leaflets on cars in the parking lots, they would be contacted by a campus police officer and told to remove all the flyers that they had already placed on the cars and then leave campus. At the same time, since most were paid to place the flyers, the police would contact the company advertised on the leaflet and advise them of the policy and advise them they would be billed for any clean-up cost incurred picking up their flyers. That was usually enough to stop them...

[rhys]

Flyers for me are reminiscent of London phoneboxes...

This from 2003....

[smurfsvt]

Save all my junkmail, and when I get crap left on my car, I go to the business and leave all my junkmail in their mail.

Same principal. Leave my car alone.

[Cybnew]

I absolutely HATE when people do this

[Psychobiker]

you toucha my car, I smacka your face

[SingingSabre]

Couple issues for me:
A: Don't touch my car.
B: Unless they're tickets to a Prince concert, sticking something on my car is grounds for instant company boycott.
C: Don't ****ing touch my car!

[e r y k]

business cards, ok.

fliers, no.

to elaborate, since i shoot mostly automotive, i am considering leaving a business card on a car. im not going to stick random business cards advertising general photography on peoples cars. gotta serve a purpose :D

[TopGear1Ds]

you toucha my car, I smacka your face
Oh man, I just lol'd!

Also, I don't think its a good idea. I just get annoyed when I find stuff on my car.

[Gary_Evans]

Little story.

A couple of years ago a stone flew up, hit and cracked my windscreen and I would have had to pay £40 towards the cost of a new one with the insurance picking up the reset of the cost. I thought I'll leave it till the weekend to get it replaced.

On the Friday a flyer was placed under the wiper and I was able to get my insurance company to sue the advertising store for a replacement windscreen by blaming them for the damage.

And you Americans sue far more easily that we do! :lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

[rhys]

One of my friends broke his car windscreen and went to the scrappie and got a replacement for just three quid. That was about 20 years ago though - they might have risen to a tenner by now - that was for his Ford Escort. I remember that ratty old car with the back of the driver's seat supported by a milk crate wedged between it and the back seat and the passanger door held shut with a bungee cord.

[carianoff]

Couple issues for me:
A: Don't touch my car.
B: Unless they're tickets to a Prince concert, sticking something on my car is grounds for instant company boycott.
C: Don't ****ing touch my car!

HAHA Awesome.

Yeah man, keep it classy - unless you lack class. In that case go ahead.

[sl3966]

Wow people are touchy. I have never done it and I wouldnt consider doing it (mostly because I am too lazy to do all that walking) but it doesnt enrage me when people do it either. I look at it and if I need or might need that particular service I will keep it. Otherwise, I throw it away no harm no foul. As far as my car goes I don't care if you touch it, I have an alarm and insurance and if you break it you bought it.......of course my wife says if I get anymore laid-back my heart will stop.

[rhys]

I would like to draw the attention of people that might be interested in my vehicle that I have a sticker on the rear bumper that says "guns save lives" and a sticker on the front bumper that says "NRA".

[TeeJay]

Flyers for me are reminiscent of London phoneboxes...


So tell me Rhys, how long have you been taking photo's of cards inside phone-boxes? :rolleyes:

....that was for his Ford Escort. I remember that ratty old car with the back of the driver's seat supported by a milk crate wedged between it and the back seat and the passanger door held shut with a bungee cord.

Ahh, I remember it well, that must have been the de-luxe version ;)

"NRA".

?

TJ

[Robert16]

NRA = National Rifle Association

[rhys]

So tell me Rhys, how long have you been taking photo's of cards inside phone-boxes? :rolleyes:


I never normally visited London - up North where I came from we didn't have whores, transvestites, transexuals, paedophiles, sadists, bestialists, massochists etc advertising in phoneboxes. It was thus a great novelty to see such adverts.


Ahh, I remember it well, that must have been the de-luxe version ;)


Aside from driving an army Landrover back to base in 1st and 2nd gears only because the pin in the gearbox had slipped I have never driven anything in such an apalling (and illegal) state as that!


?

TJ


NRA - national rifle association.

[rhys]

NRA = National Rifle Association

And as my wife says "that makes you a Republican".

[Gary_Evans]

NRA - national rifle association.

Makes me think of the Simpsons episode when Homer gets a gun

[TTk]

In our town in the uk they have started to fine people who leave flyers on cars etc at the moment most fines are £60..

[Robert16]

In our town in the uk they have started to fine people who leave flyers on cars etc at the moment most fines are £60..
Good! It is littering IMO:)

[Gary_Evans]

In our town in the uk they have started to fine people who leave flyers on cars etc at the moment most fines are £60..

I dont think they like cars in Cambridge, let alone the leafleting of them.

[TTk]

Mkt Deeping the place for the fines half Cambrigeshire and half Lincolnshire..

[Gary_Evans]

I've got friends who live there

[rhys]

In our town in the uk they have started to fine people who leave flyers on cars etc at the moment most fines are £60..

IMHO they should fine the venues/companies that are advertised with flyers, the same for posters (there are a ton of fly-posters), the whores that advertise in phone booths etc. Where a mobile phone number is the only contact/ID the number should be able to be barred instantly by a single report from a worker employed by the council. Where a website is advertised, that web domain should be disabled instantly too. Litter is bad - just like graffiti (which seems to have largely been stamped out in most civilised countries).

[narlus]

some people have way too much emotional investment into their vehicle.

[sevillafox]

Flyers for me are reminiscent of London phoneboxes...

This from 2003....


If you think that is bad, go to Vegas. You can't walk 10 feet without someone trying to give you a little card of a stripper. It doesn't matter who you are. And, they are EVERYWHERE!!!

IMO all that flyers on cars do is litter, waste paper, and piss people off. I bet there are more effective and classy ways to advertise that that.

[Robert16]

some people have way too much emotional investment into their vehicle.
I have emotional investment in everything I work my butt off to pay for;)

[sl3966]

I too have an emotional investment in the things that I work hard to pay for. However, I don't see a reason to cause bodily harm to someone who touches my car. I mean it's just a car and I protect the investment in my car with insurance not a weapon. I use weapons to protect lives, not property.

[Strayz]

here are a few of the issues I have with those that leave crap on my car.

1. It is litter.
2. you are forcing your Business on me. If I need your business I will go looking for you.
3. your 6 cent flier is on my $35,000 car. You want my money yet you have to leave litter on my car? Respect of other peoples stuff, I somehow have cash to spend somewhere else, and not at your place of business.
4. who told you it was ok to touch my car. No it is not a Porsche, but I work hard to have the toys and things I have, step off.
5. What are you going to do when on of the fliers Bleeds out in the rain ( I live in Oregon, imagine that, it rains here just a little) and stains a $70k auto? I think the Judge is not going to be very favorable when you get to voice your side VS that soccer mom who's hubby is a lawyer/doctor/city official/what have you.
6. Why do you have to do this? Don't you have a budget for advertising?
7. It screams Ghettotastic and low rent. (not that these are a bad thing, but the higher the income the more disposable cash people have to spend)
8. If I find these on my car I tell 1-20 people about it and tell then not to buy form said company, but that is just me.

but these are just my feelings about fliers on my car..

[TTk]

Since haveing my USA F150 tank i don't seem to get as many fliers as i use to, may be the kids cant reach the winscreen wipers..

[Robert16]

I too have an emotional investment in the things that I work hard to pay for. However, I don't see a reason to cause bodily harm to someone who touches my car. I mean it's just a car and I protect the investment in my car with insurance not a weapon. I use weapons to protect lives, not property.

I really don't think anybody meant anything quite so extreme. " Toucha ma car a smasha your face" is a bumper sticker. And Rhys is . . well Rhys is Rhys;). Please! Lighten up. This isn't a personal attack bye the way so keep your weapon away from me.:D:D:D

[sl3966]

I really don't think anybody meant anything quite so extreme. " Toucha ma car a smasha your face" is a bumper sticker. And Rhys is . . well Rhys is Rhys;). Please! Lighten up. This isn't a personal attack bye the way so keep your weapon away from me.:D:D:D

No worries man I was just trying to illustrate the fact that people are a bit crazy about the property they own sometimes (not you or anyone in this thread in particular). Maybe I just don't have that kind of attachment to my stuff because as a kid my family was homeless for about a year and a half (not looking for sympathy just explaining my mindset) and my parents always stressed that you can always get more stuff but you can't buy loved ones. So, as long as my wife and kid are safe you can have all my junk. Oh and I didn't know that was a bumper sticker lol

[Robert16]

Glad you replied. Respect to you and the point you just made.

[rhys]

Interestingly... I don't carry my concealed weapon much. I reckon NRA and "Guns Save Lives" stickers will keep most of the street crud away from my vehicle.

Actually, I tried using my shoulder holster but found that there's a very conspicuous bulge under my arm when I carry. Thus I'm kinda-sorta looking into compact automatics (even though I hate the perishing things with a vengence as they seem to jam on me about 50% of the time).

Meanwhile, this is what caused me to think more seriously about carrying...

I noticed a person had been placing adverts in the Columbia SC area to do TFP for a couple of months. I contacted them and found they wanted photos of hair braiding for their portfolio and that they were a hairdresser. They had no premises and would not do it in their own home. They would not pay a megre $25 per hour for hiring a studio while I did the photography but wanted to do the photography in my own home. Not only that but they wanted to bring 4 "models" along with them. I don't know about you but that sounds seriously like "I have 4 criminals with me and we want an invitation to burgle your home".

Anyway that little incident had me thinking more about safety since I'm a location photographer...

[liza]

Don't do it. There are better ways to market your business.

[rhys]

Don't do it. There are better ways to market your business.

People call leaflets and unsolicited email "junkmail" which really sums up what it is all regarded as.

We flip through magazines and ignore the adverts because we've trained ourselves to ignore adverts in newspapers, magazines and on television.

Thus, leaflets, spam, newspaper/magazine/TV adverts have lost a lot of their power if you really want to reach people.

What works is the unusual stuff - lawsuits are often very good advertising if they're well publicised. This can be expensive though. If you have a friend on the other side of town working as a photographer and you sue each other publically over something unimportant and do it publically, the advertising from the media reporting is going to be worth more than anything else. Just before the judgement you both agree to drop the case :D

Billboards and signs are useful because not everybody uses these. The best of all is word of mouth though. Websites and the Yellow Pages are OK but nowhere near as good as WOM.

[Gary_Evans]

Interestingly... I don't carry my concealed weapon much. I reckon NRA and "Guns Save Lives" stickers will keep most of the street crud away from my vehicle.



As I catch up on this thread the TV news is telling me of yet another shooting massacre.

Guns save lives?

:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

[rhys]

As I catch up on this thread the TV news is telling me of yet another shooting massacre.

Guns save lives?

:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

Yes. Many times over. A criminal will have a gun no matter what the law says. When good men have guns, criminals cannot commit crimes or frequently they get stopped dead.

Let me give you some examples...
http://www.wagc.com/GunsSaveLives.html
http://www.gunowners.org/sk0802.htm
http://dartreview.com/issues/2.26.01/gunssave.html

[SingingSabre]

HAHA Awesome.

Yeah man, keep it classy - unless you lack class. In that case go ahead.

I'm a Mexican Jew. Class is all I got!

I have emotional investment in everything I work my butt off to pay for;)

Aye.

I work hard to keep my car looking professional. Having litter on it detracts from its professional appearance.

[narlus]

some people have way too much emotional investment into their vehicle.


4. who told you it was ok to touch my car. No it is not a Porsche, but I work hard to have the toys and things I have, step off.


'step off'. :lol: do you talk like that in real life? while telling people what you paid for your car?

[uva185]

If I get a flyer on my car it goes immediately on the ground. I do not even look at what the flyer says. Don't waste your time or money placing flyers on cars.

[TeeJay]

IMHO they should fine the venues/companies that are advertised with flyers, the same for posters (there are a ton of fly-posters), the whores that advertise in phone booths etc. Where a mobile phone number is the only contact/ID the number should be able to be barred instantly by a single report from a worker employed by the council. Where a website is advertised, that web domain should be disabled instantly too. Litter is bad - just like graffiti (which seems to have largely been stamped out in most civilised countries).

Wow!, you know what Rhys, I find myself agreeing with you 100% :rolleyes:


....even though I hate the perishing things with a vengence as they seem to jam on me about 50% of the time...

Does this mean you only kill half the people you fire at? :confused::(:D


TJ

[rhys]

Does this mean you only kill half the people you fire at? :confused::(:D
TJ

Accuracy aside, if it's not 100% reliable then it's dangerous to yourself because you will put your faith in it working. I can put 100% faith into my .357 Magnum because I know it will always work, barring defective ammunition. Out of the lowest quality cheapest ammunition I've used I have had only 2 rounds of .22 fail to fire (out of 1500+ rounds) and zero of .357 Mangum (out of 1,000+ rounds) - thus far. And my normal defence rounds (which are higher quality and cost a shed load of money - Remmington) will have an even lower failure rate.

[sevillafox]

Accuracy aside, if it's not 100% reliable then it's dangerous to yourself because you will put your faith in it working. I can put 100% faith into my .357 Magnum because I know it will always work, barring defective ammunition. Out of the lowest quality cheapest ammunition I've used I have had only 2 rounds of .22 fail to fire (out of 1500+ rounds) and zero of .357 Mangum (out of 1,000+ rounds) - thus far. And my normal defence rounds (which are higher quality and cost a shed load of money - Remmington) will have an even lower failure rate.

you scare me :cry:

[milleker]

Adding my $0.02, unless it looks like a ticket anything on my windshield is immediately balled up and thrown away in the nearest trash can without reading it. Most people just toss the trash on the ground but it never seems that these companies are contacted and billed for cleanup efforts so why contribute to littering? I wish they were severely fined around here because its a big problem where I work. Nothing like coming outside during lunch to see trash flying between the cars and down the street.