I was at the US Open in Queens last night. A random surprise was the style of advertising at the event. There was a lot of “if you were a cool kid you could get THIS” style ads.
For example, things started in the parking lot. Which, if I can digress, was the most poorly marked parking I have ever seen. In fact, the “directions” to the event were awful. The website differed from the signs, which different from other signs. When you got to some parking it looked totally unofficial and you had no idea how far away you were, and if you could get to anything else.
Back to the advertising. There was a huge sign that said “If you drive a Lexus, parking is on us”. READ: “If you were cool and had a Lexus we would be taking care of you”.
In the stadium there was more evidence at hand. There were many American Express booths that would give you a free radio…. if you showed your Amex.
It made me wonder if this was smart advertising. Is it better to say:
“If you had X you would get Y”
or:
“You don’t have X so you don’t get Y”
It only seemed to bug me!
