When I was out for my walk this morning, I happened to see this ute (truck to my American friends) parked in a driveway of a house. I’d been hoping for ages that I would bump into it again. So I took this quick snap of the sign on the back.
Many moons ago, I was driving along a major road in Townsville when I saw it for the first time. Obviously, the thing that caught my attention was the sign! It just cracked me up – I couldn’t keep the smile off my face.
So at the next intersection, I pulled up beside the bloke driving it; wound my window down, and had a quick chat. Trevor was a quintessential Far North Queensland lawn mowing contractor / handyman with a sun weathered face and a fag hanging out the corner of his mouth. Neither his vehicle or his equipment appeared to be in prime condition, but they were obviously serviceable.
I told him that his sign had given me such a laugh. With a big smile on his face, he told me everyone had that reaction at first. When I questioned whether having that business name would affect his livelihood, he just laughed. Said it had the opposite effect. It was a talking point and conversation starter. Some of his clients included Judges, lawyers and doctors. He told me that he was so busy that he wasn’t taking on new business! He doesn’t advertise at all – just this one sign on the back of his vehicle.
Most businesses could not get away with using that type of branding. Can you imagine the following hypothetical business names:?
- Dodgy Websites
- Dodgy SEO
- Dodgy Domainer
- Dodgy Lawyers / Accountants / Doctors / Valuers etc
But Trevor has succeeded with his “Dodgy Mowing & Yard Cleaning”. Branding with some Aussie humour.
P.S. I didn’t bother asking him if he wanted Dodgy.com.au – he struck me as the sort of bloke that wouldn’t even have an email address!
Ned O’Meara – 20th October 2016
Brilliant! 😀
That is hilarious…I love it!
It’s quite clever I agree. Grass keeps on growing and once he has a good set of clients so long as he provides great service they are unlikely to care what his business is called or would simply know him on a first name basis anyway.