One thing that really galls me is people who are too cute for their own good.
And one such operation is a marketing outfit called Blacktop Creative, which came up with and executed the ludicrous and obnoxious idea of planting 2,000 red, white and blue signs on public property and in people’s yards — without bothering to get homeowners’ permission — to promote a big fund-raiser for Children’s Mercy Hospital.
I’m sure you’ve seen these signs. They popped up Friday morning all over town, especially on major thoroughfares like Ward Parkway and State Line Road. They were — or are — around fountains, along boulevard easements, as well as in people’s yards.
I hate to give the event any mention at all, except I must in order to put this offensive, intrusive marketing program in context.
It’s some sort of celebrity event in June called Big Slick ’16, which features home-grown comedians Paul Rudd, Jason Sudeikis and Rob Riggle. (For the record, I’ve never seen any of the three and now have less interest than ever in seeing them.)
I took this photo this morning on Ward Parkway, adjacent to Meyere Circle.
Let me reiterate what galls me about this yard-sign campaign: The creators apparently gave little or no thought to asking people if it was OK to put signs on their property. That’s pretty damn basic! Some might say it’s not a big deal, that homeowners could just pluck the signs out of the yard and throw them away, except that no one has the right to do that without permission of the owners. It’s an intrusion, a scourge on the landscape, and it is wrong.
Not only that, but putting promotional signs on public property is illegal. The biggest violator of that city ordinance is the political group Freedom Inc., which plasters its signs all over public property, primarily on the East Side, at every major election. The sign ordinance is never prosecuted, of course — it would be nearly impossible to do so — but spreading those signs all over the place is offensive and it creates a big mess that takes months to go away.
…Anyone who has extensive experience in political activism — Pat O’Neill and Steve Glorioso and even me to a lesser extent– will tell you that yard signs are a sensitive business. Guys like O’Neill, Glorioso and the late Pat Gray have put hundreds of hours of work into getting permission from Kansas City residents to place yard signs promoting their candidates and issues.
When I first saw those Big Slick signs, I wondered, mistakenly as it turned out, if they were O’Neill’s handiwork. His firm does a lot of general public relations and marketing, in addition to political marketing. My speculation was prompted in part by the fact that one of those signs turned up on a Ward Parkway corner that is one door removed from my house. A few weeks ago, I had asked my neighbor if she would allow O’Neill to put up a yard sign urging voters to renew the city earnings tax, and she agreed. It was good exposure for the campaign. But when I saw that Big Slick sign in her yard Saturday, I jumped to the conclusion that O’Neill was behind the marketing program and had taken the liberty of authorizing placement of a sign in my neighbor’s yard without checking.
Last night I sent Pat an email asking if he was the offender. He wrote back, saying: “No, I would not do something like that. I was upset at them, too… Spent yesterday pulling those signs from in front of fountains.”
I can attest that he or he and some of his associates spent time pulling up signs because Saturday evening I saw a woman removing signs from the Meyer Circle Fountain island and placing them in the trunk of her car. O’Neill moved quickly to try to minimize the problem because he knew other people would be wondering the same thing I did and that the signage could indirectly reflect poorly on him and other campaign consultants.
I can tell you this, too: O’Neill’s people will be the only ones out there collecting those signs, as they do immediately after political campaigns are over; Blacktop Creative will just let them lie and litter. Hell, Blacktop’s people don’t even remember where they put most of those signs up in the middle of the night.
…A little more about Blacktop Creative.
In a fawning story Saturday about the Big Slick marketing program, writer Sarah Gish said the signs were the work of “Kansas City branding firm Blacktop Creative.”
Blacktop was founded in 2001 and bought by Barkley Inc., the former Barkley Evergreen & Partners, in 2010. Both firms have offices in the old TWA building on Main Street, in the Crossroads area.
I said up top they were too cute for their own good. Actually, they’re a bunch of smart asses. Their linked-in page says: “We…ride scooters. We play our music too loudly. And shoot each other with Nerf guns. But that’s because we like each other too much not to have a little fun at our own expense.”
Ho, ho, ho. Those crazy geniuses at Blacktop. They’ll do just about anything to have a good time at work, won’t they?
Of course, they really don’t want to work, do they? Because if they did, they would have gone out, knocked on doors and asked people for permission to put up their Big Slick signs.
As best I can tell from the firm’s absolutely shitty website, the president is a hip-looking guy named Shawn Polowniak.
Polowniak
Well, Shawn, you and your crack team really made a mess of things, as far as I’m concerned. Next time you have a bright idea that involves signs on private property, BURN SOME SHOE LEATHER AND GO DOOR TO DOOR AND GET PERMISSION!
…And also, shame on Children’s Mercy Hospital officials for not having the good sense to rein in the Blacktop Creative’s “midnight riders” before they littered the Kansas City landscape late Friday and early Saturday.
Like most other people, I have a lot of admiration for Children’s Mercy Hospital, but I hope Big Slick ’16 is a big flop.
JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC 
Not to mention the waste! Trees and toxic ink and metal to make all those signs. Maybe they haven’t noticed, but we’re kind of running out of planet and maybe this isn’t the best use of our limited resources.
I should have mentioned that myself, Kate. I’m glad you and Green Works are around to raise awareness about the importance of sustainability.
Excuse them for trying to help save Lives…How dare they…
A literal Get Off My Lawn rant! Stay cranky, Fitz!
Yes, I’m startin’ to get pissed off!!!
I’m with Mike. Ya’ got a point, Fitz, but you’re close to old man crazy talk. Then again, every old man is entitled to a rant from time to time. Keep it up.
I am not old and I am not crazy…I’m not even half crazy or half old. I’m rooted in bedrock, never lose my temper and keep my wits about me when all about me are losing theirs. And I pray every day that I can maintain that perfect equilibrium right up to my final breath…And I appreciate your readership, Cal. (This blogging is a lot of fun.)
Jim,
Thanks for giving us the real story.
Sarah Gish’s managing editor should know better.
lw
Well, let’s be honest here, Les…This was an FYI story, and the managing editor of the paper very likely wouldn’t have seen it until it was in print. It would have been in the hands of an FYI assignment editor. Nevertheless, it’s fair to suggest the propriety of this p.r. gambit should have entered the mind of whoever read back over this story before publication or posting.
I think that the inconvenience of throwing a yard sign away is very small compared to the potential financial gain for Children’s Mercy. How many homeowners do you think were actually that upset? Can’t believe it was that many.
I enjoy reading your take on the Star and othet KC stuff, but I don’t agree with your take this time.
Welcome to the Comments Dept., Bruce…But I’ve gotta tell you this comment is going to earn you the immediate wrath of my friend Kate Corwin…(See 43rd Place comment above.)
Wow, Jimmy. I usually agree with you and I love to read your posts but on this one, I think you’re missing the big picture. Yes, it’s awful they put signs on public and private property without permission. That is completely wrong, However, you are bashing a very important institution in our city (Children’s Mercy Hospital) and a very important fundraiser for them. My family has benefited from their care (3 generations) for over 30 years. For you to say that you hope Big Slick ’16 fails is saying you hope Children’s Mercy doesn’t get much needed support. Sorry, but I can’t agree with you on that.
Of course, reactions can vary, based on how close one is — or has been — to CMH services.
…Between my blog and Tony’s, I think CMH will get the message it needs to keep a tighter rein on the horses it brings in to run a marketing campaign.
I had built up a good head of steam by the time I got to the “kicker” on this post, and I still much prefer the Watson Challenge to “Big Slick.”
I don’t think I’d put myself in the same sentence with Tony’s if I were you.
I thought it was a bit too early for campaign yard signs.
Nice…
The popular kids never have to get a hall pass…they do as they please…you speak for every kid who got detention for smoking in the bathroom while Johnny Prom King’s transgressions are waved off….way to pull over that BMW, write that speeding ticket, and assist in recalibration of the chi. This IS the job of 1st amendment journalism.
The highest compensated CEO was Randall L. O’Donnell of Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City. The longtime executive received compensation totaling $5,987,194, records show.Sep 27, 2011.
I saw them up on State Line Road – figured out they must be some gimmick, but didn’t look up the “Big Slick” – so they totally missed their mark. Now I still think they are ugly and sours my otherwise admiration for CMH. Furthermore, if it had been put on my lawn, (being Mission Hills, they probably/hopefully know better?) I would have been livid.
You touch on an excellent point, Leanne…The promoters had no qualms about encroaching on the property of people who live on major corridors like Ward Parkway and State Line Road. I believe some p.r. people think — totally incorrectly — those corridors are quasi-public land that can be appropriated to convey various marketing messages. This is not the first time something like this has happened, just the biggest such transgression I can recall.
But what if they had decided to go up and down a couple of residential blocks in Mission Hills, putting signs on every yard. Everyone would recognize immediately that was an improper appropriation of private property, and there would be a shit storm in Mission Hills, which conceivably could trigger some very bad ramifications for the dim bulbs behind the program.
JimmyC:
I had to laugh at this post…a couple of times.
Were you channeling Bernie Sanders doing the cranky schtick…the mean old man hysterically bellowing “get off my lawn”?
I get it, but you went one step too far with two comments — the shitty website and hoping the CMH event fails…come on, man. That’s too childish.
Agreed, the marketing team encroached on private property without permission, but methinks the public placement much less egregious — it’s public space and if there is trouble with the signs causing a public nuisance, the city knows who to call to rectify it.
Let’s hope all this “smart ass marketing brouhaha” results in a successful event for CMH…it’s for the kids Jim — to help fill all the new gaps created in the great ACA healthcare morass.
Let’s take another look at Big Slick ’16 when we can compare its performance to Big Slick ’15. It won’t make you any less cranky, but I can see lots of smiles on moms’, dads’ and kids’ faces. And one on yours, too!
You’re at least the second commenter (see kckt) to bow and scrape to CMH, Rick. That’s a private, not-for-profit institution that rakes in scores of millions a year. When I was at The Star, CMH, Hallmark and the Nelson Gallery were the biggest sacred cows in town — still are. As a reporter, you didn’t think about writing a negative story about one of the Big Three. Such a story very likely wouldn’t find the light of print.
And it’s still that way…From the days it had administrators working out of trailers on Hospital Hill, CMH has waged the biggest and longest-running p.r. campaign of any organization in town, including the Nelson. They’ve got plenty of money. Yes, CMH is an admirable institution but, for Christ’s sake, it is not beyond criticism. And, yes, I still would like to see Big Slick fall flat. CMH needs to learn a p.r. lesson.
On this subject, I am proud to be cranky.
Forget it, everybody. He’s spoken his piece and counted to three.
It won’t fall flat. It has raised over four million dollars for the hospital. It’s also one of the hottest tickets in town. Sells out very quickly. Gets bigger and bigger every year. Signs may be a flop but Big Slick most certainly isn’t.
Good perspective, Sarah Jane…I’m trying to come around after a scolding from my wife about being overly negative.
Your wife sounds very smart!😜
Gayle — I’ve decided to count to 10.
I would like 2 yard signs. One for myself and one for my sister who works for CMH. She lives on a Blvd.
Call my friends at Blacktop Creative — (816) 423-7000. I’m sure they can provide as many as you want.
For all the Big Slick haters
…those guys do a great thing of coming back to their roots and raising money for what I consider an Absolutely Good Cause….The Children Mercy Hospital. I pray that none of your children become ill, and you need such funds for a cure. Selfishness is unnecessary!!!
I’m taking back my desire the event fails. I went too far…
Takes a big person to acknowledge a different point of view.