Beardvertising is a real thing
“Hey, you’ve got a little something in your… wait, what?” It’s an advertisement and the practice of wearing it in a beard is called, “Beardvertising.” Oh, so it is supposed to be there. The company, which seeks to explore this new area of advertising, pays men up to $5 per day to walk around with a “BeardBoard” clipped to the hair on their faces. And, evidently, they’re serious.
The website tells potential “Beardvertisers” (those who currently sport an “epic beard”) that, “It’s simple – turn your beard into a business.”
Considering that 55% of men worldwide have facial hair, and the sales of electric shavers and men’s facial trimmers fell 12% in 2008… maybe they’re on to something.
It makes me feel weird
A&W Restaurants and Eagle One Automotive have signed on to have their ads placed on BeardBoards. Will it get potential customers’ attention? Yeah, I’d probably notice a BeardBoard… because, let’s face it, we’re all going to notice something stuck in some guy’s beard. But would I be comfortable staring at a man’s face long enough to read the ad? Probably not. It’s just something that makes me feel weird.
The guy put the BeardBoard there with the intent to have people stare at it. Maybe that’s where my personal problem lies… I don’t want to start. You want the attention? Nope. I’m going to purposely look away, because I know you want me to look at you. So, I’m going to avert my eyes. Advertising fail, in my book. Besides, it flies in the face of the appropriate public staredown. We’ve all done it. But, the point is to not get caught while doing it, right?
Perhaps. Then what do the advertisers have to gain with this type of exposure? Is there any way a company can track success with this particular advertising route? Probably not. Except the aforementioned Beardvertiser’s own report of who saw his ad (and the fact that we’re talking about it here and now). Then, there are people like me who are quite the experts at people watching on the sly. It just seems a little far-fetched to be effective. Beardvertising will get noticed, but more of as trash in an unkempt beard than to make me think favorably upon a particular company.
Kind of a harsh statement, I know. Perhaps they should just take it on the chin.
