Secrets of the City

Bad PR and stupid business.

I don’t understand caring that much, but power to him.

We recycled ours upon delivery. It will live again, as an egg carton, a political flier or as a page of sex-related ads in City Pages.

I’ll keep my fingers crossed that the only pages of the phonebook listing escort services, strip clubs and adult entertainment stores are used in the making of the City Pages erotic ads.
I’ll be so sad if that turns out not to be the case.

That Ed’s a Wild Man.

The Yellow Pages are Ed’s Moby Dick.

More power to him I guess. I sort of fall in the indifferent category.

I walk mine to the recycling box and the story is over.

We have one on the front porch that has been there for weeks. Worse part? We eat dinner out there almost every night. We are so lazy.

The problem I have is that they put them on houses “For Sale” and with notices that the houses are vacant. Clearly no one is living at these houses, and the phonebook is going to be sitting there for months unless some good citizen picks it up and recycles it…

I think I might crumple my old one up and use it as a heat source this winter.

Someone has way too much time on his hands.

Makes no sense to “recycle” something that has never even been used. Such a huge freakin’ amount of waste. I hate unsolicited telephone books more than I hate pictures of Dick Cheney’s face.

If anyone wanted to really get me, deliver a telephone book full of nothing but advertisements of Dick Cheney’s face.

Bad PR and stupid business.

There are still a lot of people that rely on them, kwatt. Not everyone has ready access to internet directories.

And personally, unless I’m looking  for a specific business that already has their own  website, I find on-line directory searches to be less efficient.

I do agree that if he’s opted out of receiving them, in spite of the minor annoyance they should be, the shouldn’t have received them.

I’ll also agree that they should not be delivered to abandoned and vacant properties.

I, for one, will buy anything Dick Cheney’s face tells me to buy.

I’m not sure that Dick Cheney’s face would do well in the hunting/shooting range/ammo categories.

Dick Cheney should be the spokesman for the ethanol industry.

That job is already taken, spaceman.

Maybe Massengill then.

We have a winner!

Hey now! We don’t want him pimpin’ feminine products. Keep him on your side – like axe for old guys or something.

Sheesh.

“AXE Bodywash. More invigorating than a blast of bird shot in the face.”

Now that I see the video, I find this act both audacious and obnoxious.

Ed Kohler. More audacious than a blast of bird shot to the face.”

I call upon the artists of Minneapolis-St. Paul to find some use for unwanted phone books. I’ve been thinking about it for days, every time I walk past them on the porch. Something along the lines of Thomas Allen.

Something like the Berlin Wall as Dominos, Andy?

I may not know Art, but I know what I like…

If he would have just dropped them off and given them to somebody, I would have been slightly less annoyed by it.

But tossing them in the front of the building and then giggling about it like an 8-year-old. Man, someone’s gotta pick those up.

Impish acts like that kinda hit me in the gut.

Maybe the people delivering the books in the first place should give them to someone at each house, rat.

I’m neither defending or condemning the book people.

Kind of seems like a defense to me, when you condemn (or ridicule) Ed for following their own practice.

Well, it’s not.

I call upon the artists of Minneapolis-St. Paul to find some use for unwanted phone books.

This Frank Gehry-designed complex at MIT looks like it might have been built of stacked phone books, doesn’t it?

Maybe we can create a whole bunch of similar-looking buildings made from actual phone books?

Ryanol: me too; recycle and done. And chuckle at the rant I expect from Ed. I just got my phone book yesterday and thought of him right away.

It’s not my battle, but what the heck, go for it Ed.

Clothes from a phone book.  We could put people to work and clothe them at the same time!

Alright Andy I’ve got it.

Were gonna need all those unwanted yellowbooks a gorilla suit, a three piece suit, a bow and lots of arrows, some kerosene and a boombox blaring
“We didn’t start the fire” on repeat.

Or of course we could just use the individual pages of all those unwanted yellowpages to create a wallpaper covering the entire IDS building.

Can we get Cristo to dye them pink and then create a flaming island in the middle of Lake Calhoun.

Use them to make an origami monster that floats. Then we can put him on the lake with dino and have our own Godzilla vs. Whateverthatdinosauris.

Oh Cat, how predictable that you suggest origami crafts as an alternate use for the phone books.

Of course.

Hey, I am nothing if not a living, breathing stereotype, Ms. Bix!

But, aside from that, phonebook origami Lake Monster Wars would be freakin’ awesome.

“Someone has way too much time on his hands.”

This statement kind of drives me crazy(even though I’m guilty of using it). Ed takes a lot of flak (surprisingly) for doing this because they think it’s a waste of time. Well, obviously Ed thinks it’s important and is probably the best judge of how to spend his time. I mean, it’s not like he’s using that time for something important like playing XBox or whatever. He thinks it’s a worthy cause, and even though people may not agree with his zeal, I kind of have to respect his dedication to a relatively unknown issue.

What cause are you talking about here?

Well, the environmental impact of wasting all that paper (by recycling them), picking up what is, essentially, litter, and the monetary impact of businesses spending money advertising in a publication that is, in some respects, not being utilized.

Did you even read his blog article?

I read the whole thing, saw the video. And it’s not litter.

Not everyone owns Macbooks like, Mr. Deets.

These books on those doorsteps are, frankly, none of his business.

You don’t think it’s littering to deliver phone books to forclosed and obviously abandoned houses (outlined in previous entries), not to mention to someone already on an opt out list?

I am unable to watch the video but how does Ed determine whether or not to take the phone book from someone’s front steps and get rid of it?

Is he asking if people want it and then people say no and he takes them? If so, I don’t see what the big deal is – he’s sort of providing a service in a way and, at the same time, he can fight his battle.

According to the entry, they were his neighbors’ books, which had been sitting out on their stoops for a while. I seriously doubt he took the time to drive around the whole of South Minneapolis picking up books.

Yeah, I get what he’s trying to do but I really think he shouldn’t be taking books from inhabited houses without asking. Foreclosed, abandoned. Cool. If he wants to take his neighbors, he should just ask. If I have something on my porch, it’s not yours to determine what to do with it without asking. Even if it’s just stting there.

I’m sure most would be fine with giving it up AND he could actually get out and talk to people face to face. We’re lazy and let ours sit on our stoop for a long while but we do eventually get it and use them.

“they were his neighbors’ books, ”

Do you consider people inhabiting a 22 block area, at 28 homes per block your neighbors? Did you even read his blog article?

Bad PR and stupid business.

There are still a lot of people that rely on them, kwatt. Not everyone has ready access to internet directories. And personally, unless I’m looking for a specific business that already has their own website, I find on-line directory searches to be less efficient.

I know.  I was referring to the fact that they let it get to the Ed point.  But it’s probably not bad business b/c they can still count it as distributed for advertising sake.  Of course, if people get super annoyed with your product, that’s not really good business either.

There are independent firms that audit reach for companies that advertise in most mediums. I don’t know if the telephone book companies use them, but I’m certain when people sell, they have something they can point to as a way to gauge rates.

There’s an old saying that goes, 80 percent of advertising doesn’t work and 20 percent does. And it’s really hard to know what 20 percent that is.

But it’s still not the point of this stunt. If Mr. Deets is really that committed to “the environment” why didn’t he just do this, and not put it up on YouTube?

I think the answer is obvious.

@kwatt

It’s really only bad for business if people who are super annoyed then turn on the advertisers. Otherwise, the phonebook companies could care less how annoyed users are because the ad revenue is still coming in.

I would think it’s fairly simple for businesses to determine if paying for a Yellow Book or Yellow Pages ad is working. You can ask people how they found you and keep track. You can set up a special phone number that is only listed in the Yellow Pages. You can skip advertising for a year and see what happens.

If businesses are paying to be in the book, thereby keeping the business model afloat, then I assume there’s a value to the Yellow Pages.

That said, if these companies are going to give an opt-out option, then they should abide by it. Although I’m not sure how the delivery people are supposed to know they’re delivering to an abandoned house. (with the exception of houses that have big notices at the front door).

And while picking up the neighbor’s books off their property was funny… it’s also obnoxious. In my humble opinion.

But, really, Rat who cares if he’s doing it? My only issue is removing stuff from my property without asking. Beyond that, what he’s doing has no adverse affect on my life at all.

Well, maybe between painting over graffiti on someone else’s buildings and this latest stunt, we can conclude that Mr. Deets is more interested in promoting himself than he is respecting personal property.

If Mr. Deets is really that committed to “the environment” why didn’t he just do this, and not put it up on YouTube?

lead by example?

i too was going to say ed has way too much time on his hands, then i took quick stock of how productive my day was.  nevermind.

When did you gain your psychic powers?

(that was directed at rat)

It’s summertime, cubbie. The livin’ is easy. Go pound the bags for awhile. You’ll feel productive.

I don’t have any, Dave. I put 2 and 2 together.

i got my rounds in today rat. squeezed in a little yardwork, too. nice little thursday.

I could care less if it turned out he was promoting himself unless he’s or anyone else is promoting himself on my private property or being so ubiquitus that I couldn’t get away from it. And that’s clearly not the case because I didn’t know he was doing this until I read it here.

You don’t have to buy into anyone’s promotion and for the most part you pretty much ignore anyone’s self-promoting ways somehow. It’s pretty easy to tune anyone out if you want to.

“It’s pretty easy to tune anyone out if you want to.”

And in his case, I should have done it awhile ago.

Well, then that’s on you.

Dude, it is a blog. He also writes about how toilet paper is folded at different hotels. Is that self-promotion too? Basically, he wants to write interesting stuff so people read his blog. That’s what blogs are. That’s why he posted this on his blog. Geeze.

If you haven’t mastered blocking out people you don’t have any interest in promoting themselves on the internet and being exposed to self-promotion really pisses you off that much, I strongly recommend not using the internet. And especially not reading blogs and discussion forums. It’ll destroy you.

Ed spends way too much time thinking and writing about the Yellow Pages for this simply to be an example of attention seeking. I suspect they actually irk him quite a lot.

Regardless, impugning his motives is an ad hominem discussion, and while might be pleasurable from the perspective of an armchair shrink, doesn’t affect the discussion one way or the other. Maybe Paul Revere was a big old drama queen, but that didn’t mean the British weren’t actually coming.

Jason, yp companies generally have contracts that penalize advertiser for taking a year off. Ads are ranked based on a combination of price and seniority and taking a year off reseta seniority. The best thing the yellow pages have going for them is a long ad cycle. In TV you don’t need to run ads for a year to realize you need to switch things up to make the numbers work.

Companies that aren’t measuring the effectiveness if their ads are leaving money on the table.

I’m impressed by the amount of time people will spend writing about how I waste my time. Whatever floats yer boat.

Yellow Pages is becoming really irrelevant these days. Heard many stories as to how desperate Yellow Pages salespeople are. They almost beg their customers to stay with them.

I would think it’s fairly simple for businesses to determine if paying for a Yellow Book or Yellow Pages ad is working. You can ask people how they found you and keep track. You can set up a special phone number that is only listed in the Yellow Pages. You can skip advertising for a year and see what happens.

It’s a vicious world out there.