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Michael Trivette
Sandwich Boards
Since the time in which humans began using different forms of advertising,
sandwich boards have constantly been used as an alternative medium of spreading a
particular message. One of the first places where sandwich boards first came about was
in London, England. Much like today, London was plastered with advertising, with
armies of chalkers and ‘external paper hangers’ decorating blank walls, empty shops and
wooden hoardings with advertisements (London Street Advertising). Described by the
writer William Weir as ‘peripatetic placards,’ Prince Pückler-Muskae gives an
interesting account of how the technique was employed in the 1820s: “Formerly people
were content to paste them up; now they are ambulant. One man had a pasteboard hat,
three times as high as other hats, on which is written in great letters, ‘Boots at twelve
shillings a pair – warranted. Another carried a sort of banner on which is represented a
washerwoman and the inscription, ‘Only three-pence a shirt’.” Looking like a fancy
dress version of today’s human billboards, placard holders were initially dressed in
outlandish, eye-catching clothes with banners taking on a multitude of shapes (London
Street Advertising). Out of this new form of advertising the name ‘sandwich men’ was
born. This new form of advertising worked for many businesses in London and it would
eventually spread to other parts of the world as one of the more dominant forms of early
advertising.
Sandwich boards are important in today’s society because they provide another
way for us to be able to advertise for different products. Understanding the history of
sandwich boards and how they are used in persuasive efforts is vital to the overall
effectiveness of our advertising efforts.
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Other people have written about the importance of sandwich boards and how
they are used in advertising, while others have written about how sandwich boards are a
bad way to advertise. What follows is a brief summation of each report.
Advertising is the means by which goods or services are promoted to the public
(Petley). According to the Wikipedia Online Encyclopedia, a sandwich board is a type
of advertisement composed of two boards carried by an individual, one in front and one
behind, creating a “sandwich” effect (Sandwich Board). The two boards carry
advertising messages, and are usually attached to straps acting as suspenders, allowing
the person wearing the boards to carry the weight on his or her shoulders while also
keeping the boards balanced. Sandwich boards are usually displayed in busy pedestrian
areas and advertise businesses within easy walking distance. The person carrying the
boards may also pass out flyers or shout advertising slogans. Sandwich boards were
most popular during the 19th century.
At the beginning of the 19th century, the main printed media—newspapers and
magazines—were less important to advertisers than posters, handbills, tradespeople’s
“cards” listing their wares, “advertising engines” (horse-drawn wooden towers covered
in posters), and the “sandwich men” who walked the streets with poster boards strapped
to their bodies (Petley). During this time of industrial revolution newly formed
businesses jumped at the idea of paying a person a few cents to stand on a street corner
while advertising for their respected business.
One of the main drawing points of sandwich boards was their ability to lower
product production costs. Advertising can lower costs (Day). It informs the public of a
product’s availability and thereby increases sales. If more products are sold, then more
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must be manufactured. If a greater number of products are manufactured, then the cost
per item drops and the product can be sold cheaper. Advertisers for newly formed
companies saw sandwich boards as a great tool to spread the word about their product.
If they could advertise for their products while also saving money by avoiding other
costly advertising measures, it was seen as a benefit.
Even courtrooms have found a new way to institute sandwich boards. Judges on
both the left and right coasts have put a Hawthorne-esque spin on recent sentences.
Offenders convicted of theft have been ordered to appear in public wearing sandwich
boards that proclaim their crimes, á la The Scarlet Letter (Sullivan). A judge in San
Francisco recently ordered a man convicted of stealing mail from mailboxes to stand in
front of the post office while wearing a sandwich board that reads “I stole mail. This is
my punishment.” Another person in Maryland was sentenced to stand in front of a gas
station after she was convicted of a pump-and-run at a gas station. Her sandwich board
stated “I was caught stealing gas.” This new method of punishment has been compared
to that of The Scarlet Letter and certainly the convicted persons feel shame and
embarrassment while wearing the sandwich boards.
Often at times small businesses rely on sandwich boards as their main source of
advertising and when those businesses are forced to put their boards away, profits may
take a hit. In one small town Steve Clippinger was forced to put away his sandwich
boards used to advertise for his subway sandwich shop by newly enforced sign codes
that prohibited businesses from placing signs on sidewalks. Business dropped by eight
percent in the two weeks in which the signs were gone. “If I can't advertise then I lose
business,” Clippinger said. “And if I lose business, I have to start laying off the
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Broomfield kids who work here. How is that good for the city?” (Chance). Clippinger
certainly has his point, and he also went on to say that sandwich boards are an affordable
way to advertise and many businesses rely on this form of advertisement for their
livelihood.
Sacramento has also moved to the forefront in outlawing sandwich boards.
Sandwich-board advertising was outlawed for very specific reasons: They were
impeding the flow of pedestrian traffic on sidewalks, and they were a particular problem
for people with disabilities to get around. Some eager-beaver business owners even
placed them in the street, where vehicles would regularly run into them and knock them
over, thereby creating traffic jams and honking horns (Boutelle). Certainly you can see
why some cities are opposed to the idea of sandwich boards being used for advertising.
The city government’s ban on sandwich boards grew out of meetings that began in late
2000, when the City Council decided to try to clean up the cityscape without restricting
commerce or commercial creativity. Unfortunately for some businesses these
restrictions on sandwich boards cause a loss in publicity and a loss in profits.
Putting a sandwich board in a busy area is guaranteed to attract the attention of
passer-bys. When you pass sandwich boards in the street, you may not be interested, but
you always find yourself reading them (Sandwich Board Advertising). If at the end of
the week, you only gain a few more customers, well then that is a good indication that
your sandwich boards must be working in getting customers in the door to purchase your
product or service. The tactic for advertising this way is to offer a message that makes
people think, and ultimately seek an answer by turning to your business for the end result.
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Exposure is what the game is all about and sandwich boards give you that and much
more.
Local campus organizations at Appalachian State University also rely on
sandwich boards as a means of spreading publicity about their respected organizations.
Brandon Adcock, president of the Appalachian Student Ambassadors, was the publicity
chair on the membership committee during the 2004-2005 academic year and he
witnessed the importance of sandwich boards on campus. “Sandwich boards are very
important because we have the ability to place them in high traffic areas on campus
where students will see them several times a day,” Adcock said. Brandon went on to
state that sandwich boards are important during the Ambassador annual membership
drive because students will see the boards as they pass by them on their way to class.
Over 100 applications were received last year and Adcock thinks a large part of that is
due to the exposure that sandwich boards generate on campus.
As a result of reviewing what others have said about sandwich boards, we can
see both the pros and cons when it comes to their use. Some cities view sandwich
boards as a deterrent to public safety while others view sandwich boards as their only
capable means of advertising due to the low cost. Each has made valid points presenting
their reasons for using or not using sandwich boards for advertising.
While analyzing sandwich boards, I used more than one method. The methods I
used consisted of Hugh Rank’s composition theory dealing with intensification and the
needs that are targeted with sandwich boards. Hugh Rank’s composition theory deals
with how something is designed or put together. Sandwich boards are rather simple to
construct by using two large placards or boards and connecting them with straps to wear
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over your shoulders or by connecting them with a hinge in order to have the boards freestand at a selected location. Sandwich boards are usually equipped with a chalkboard or
a dry-erase board for the ease of changing messages. The needs that are targeted can be
seen by both businesses and consumers. Businesses needs are targeted due to the low
cost of sandwich boards. You can easily buy the materials and make your own sandwich
boards or you can purchase them at minimal cost compared to other forms of advertising.
You also have the need of promotion solved as well. Sandwich boards enable you to
promote your product or service wherever you deem necessary. Needs by consumers are
also accomplished through the use of sandwich boards. As a consumer you need to
know about products or services that can help you in your day-to-day life and sandwich
boards offer a way for you to find out about the offers available. It does not take more
than a simple glance for you to be able to find out about a product or service once you
read over a sandwich board.
The critical issue involved with sandwich boards today is if we will continue to
use them in the future. Will our society continue to view sandwich boards as an overall
effective way to promote a product or service, or will we move away from sandwich
boards by preferring other means of advertising? Sandwich boards have long been a
stable of urban advertising but we are not certain about how much longer they will
continue to be used.
I will trace sandwich boards through their different stages by using the Yale
Model. The stages following in this order: identification, legitimacy, participation,
penetration, and distribution. The first stage, identification, deals with the way you
promote it such as slogans, colors, shape and size, etc. Because sandwich boards rely on
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consumers being able to notice them while passing by, most sandwich boards will
contain vibrant colors to attract the eye. A business will usually try to attract people by
having lighted sandwich boards at night and as a result, many people will be able to
notice the boards from a far distance. The size of the sandwich board will vary
depending on the desires of the business. Any size is possible, but 24” x 32” is generally
a preferred size (Sandwich Boards). Shape is usually a standard rectangular shape but
you will sometimes see oval-shaped boards or circular-shaped boards. Slogans will vary
on each board depending what the marketer is trying to go for with the advertisement.
Legitimacy is the second stage that deals with showing the public that you have a
legit product or idea. Sandwich boards proved to everyone their effectiveness during the
early 1800’s in England. Businesses noticed an increase in profits as a result of using
sandwich boards and so more and more businesses jumped on the bandwagon and began
using sandwich boards as a way of advertising. Eventually other people in different
countries would catch on to the idea of sandwich boards being a legit product/idea.
Businesses in urban areas found sandwich boards to be an effective way to promote their
product or service at a low cost.
The participation stage is the third stage of the Yale Model that attempts to get a
lot of people to view your advertisement. Because sandwich boards came about before
billboards, they were viewed as the premier way to advertise for your business. Actually,
some would argue that sandwich boards were the immediate predecessor and father of
billboards. As a result of so many people using sandwich boards as a way of advertising,
people wanted bigger and better ways to advertise to the masses. Soon enough
billboards would popup around sky lines and roadways as another way to advertise.
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However, billboards would not be the downfall of sandwich boards as many people
chose to stick with the simple and traditional curbside advertisement. Some people
could not afford the cost of placing an advertisement in the paper or on a billboard, so
they found the better route of making a sandwich board to place their advertisement.
The next stage is the penetration stage. This is where the product or idea is
accepted in the marketplace. The penetration stage really took hold in the mid to late
1800’s when more and more people began seeing sandwich boards as an effective way to
advertise. People accepted the fact that this new way of advertising could be used for
their businesses to gain publicity. Word of mouth would spread and eventually nations
all over the world would view sandwich boards as an acceptable way to advertise in the
marketplace.
The distribution stage occurs when the product or idea becomes an icon in
society. The only country in which this really occurred was England because it was the
birthplace of sandwich boards. They used to be an icon of society because they were
placed everywhere and are still heavily used even today. Although sandwich boards
have fallen back quite a bit from the distribution stage, they still are in the penetration
stage in England. However, most other countries are in the participation stage. Many
countries were in the penetration stage at one point but most businesses view other forms
of advertising as better ways to promote a product or idea. Sandwich boards, for the
most part, rose to the penetration stage but have since fell back into the participation
stage, with the exception of England which remains in the penetration stage.
The rhetorical strategies for sandwich boards are the ways in which they
persuade you to act. I would say that the main strategy used to persuade would be
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composition, as mentioned earlier. People are constantly trying to pull out all the stops
in order to get you to notice their sandwich boards. From the almost limitless options of
colors available to use to the size of your particular sandwich board, you can choose to
create a sandwich board to look any way you wish. Sandwich boards also use language
such as god terms or devils terms to draw people’s attention. Imagine a board that reads
“Delicious Bagels, Come inside for free samples!” Many of us would see the word
‘delicious’ as a god term because we associate it with good things. Sandwich boards use
these rhetorical strategies and more to draw the attention of the consumer.
Sandwich boards also have the ability to use slogans and nonverbal messages to
their advantage. Slogans can easily be changed on a daily basis due to the ease of
changing messages on sandwich boards. Also, people may associate a certain business
with a particular slogan on a sandwich board and they would usually expect to see it
mention the respected business. Nonverbal messages may be taken from the sandwich
board as well depending on what the viewer perceives the message to say. If the writing
on the board is big or small, the nonverbal message may come across to the viewer
differently from that of another consumer. This is just one way in which nonverbal cues
can come from sandwich boards. Sandwich boards have the ability to send many
different messages to different people depending on their perceptions as to what they
view from the board.
The unique features of sandwich boards include their ease of creating, portability,
and low cost. Sandwich boards are easy to create and almost anyone can make them if
you have the proper tools and know-how. It only takes a couple boards and either some
shoulder straps or a hinge to be able to put together a simple sandwich board. The fact
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that you can change the message at any given time is also an added benefit. If a situation
arises where you need to change the message on the board, you can do it in an instant.
Sandwich boards are also unique due to their portability. You can place them anywhere
and they are real easy to pick up and move anywhere you need them to be. It is an easy
advertisement that can be moved at any time. Another unique feature is the low cost
involved. As mentioned earlier, it does not take much money to be able to put together a
sandwich board and they are much more inexpensive than billboard ads, television ads,
or even newspaper ads. Sandwich boards are a one-time expense only and they can be
reused for your business.
We have learned from analyzing sandwich boards that there are other effective
ways to advertise for your business at a low, affordable expense. Sandwich boards can
be used for a multitude of purposes, from advertising, to proclaiming a crime committed
by a thief, sandwich boards can be used for anything the mind can imagine. We have
also learned that sandwich boards can cause problems on sidewalks and in traffic
situations and thus, many cities are turning away from using sandwich boards due to
these reasons. However, as long as there are additional ways for people to advertise and
it provides an opportunity for those who may not have much money, sandwich boards
are here to stay. We can use this study to see how our society continues to use sandwich
boards in effective ways. We can also use this study to affirm that sandwich boards
provide many different opportunities to those looking to advertise their product or
service. The ease of using sandwich boards makes it that much more worthwhile to the
advertiser who is constantly looking for innovative ways to get their message across.
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Through performing this study, I have learned of the many different ways that we
constantly use sandwich boards in our everyday lives.
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References
“London Street Advertising.” Retrieved December 3, 2005 from
http://www.urban75.org/london/billboards.html.
“Sandwich Board.” Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved December 1, 2005
from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandwich_board.
Petley, J. Advertising. (2004). London, England: Hodder Wayland.
Day, N. Advertising: Information or Manipulation? (1999). Springfield, NJ: Enslow
Publishers, Inc.
Sullivan, B. Board Walk. (2004). Aba Journal v90, pg 86.
Chance, T. Broomfield cracks down on signs. (2005.) Knight Ridder Tribune Business
News, May 13, 2005. pg 1.
Boutelle, M. Sandwich boards are out. (2003). Sacramento Business Journal v20 i7
pg36.
Sandwich Board Advertising. Retrieved December 1, 2005 from
http://www.bizhelp24.com/marketing/guerrilla_marketing_advertising_3.shtml.
Adcock, Brandon. Interview on December 5, 2005.
Sandwich Boards. Retrieved December 5, 2005 from
http://www.signwavedesigns.com/Sandwich_Boards.htm.
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