• Twitter
  • Facebook
News-Sentinel.com Your Town. Your Voice.
Opening Arguments

Hard to swallow

Often, when somebody protests the inappropriateness of an ad campaign, it's a case of too-delicate sensibilities unable to find a sense of humor. But the protesters complaining about the billboards put up by the Hacienda in South Bend have a point: The Jonestown mass suicide is probably not the best way to sell cocktails. The billboards were taken down, and a compay representative tried to explain the goof:

Every year, Leslie said company leaders look at their restaurants, the economy, their customers, and the competition to determine an idea or theme to use for advertising.

This year, Hacienda decided to use "You belong." You have a place at home, a place at work, and a place to dine, gather and celebrate at Hacienda. As they brainstormed about how people belong to clubs and teams, they discussed how an entity can develop a cult following of like-minded people.

Some people may dress alike or eat the same food or visit the same restaurant or drink the same drink — like margaritas, Leslie said.

"You start playing with headlines," he said, "and that's how we ended up with the outdoor board. But we are not getting the reaction we expected. It went the wrong direction, hit a nerve, and we have come to realize we should not have done this billboard. We lose the core message."

Too much "You belong" goes in the wrong direction and hits a nerve, not getting the reaction expected!

Posted in: Hoosier lore

Comments

Harl Delos
Tue, 02/22/2011 - 12:29am

The management was probably were too young to realize that People's Temple originated in Indianapolis. I imagine that if you had relatives who died drinking grape Lik-M-Ade, you'd be a lot touchier on the subject.

Quantcast