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Human Billboards 人体活广告

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Old-fashioned advertising makes a comeback 老式广告席卷重来

We’ve all seen one: a person dressed in a costume near a busy street, waving to drivers and usually holding a sign with a deal to a pizza place, hair salon or even a tax service. Many of us have probably never done much more than smile or wave back, which makes a person wonder, does this kind of advertising really work?

我们都看过这种玩意儿：在车水马龙的街道附近，有人身穿着道具服向驾车者挥手致意，往往还手拿招牌，上头写着某家披萨店、美发沙龙或甚至是出租车服务的优惠。有很多人可能除了微笑或回挥手之外就没有其他反应，这让人不禁纳闷，这种广告方式真的奏效吗？

In tough economic times, small businesses try new ways to draw in customers. Many have gone to social networking on Facebook and Twitter, but old-fashioned methods are resurfacing.

面临经济不景气的艰困时期，小型公司试图想出新办法来吸引客户上门，许多诉诸于Facebook或推特等社群网络，但有些老式的办法也开始再度浮上台面。

They’re human billboards, said Glenn Karwoski, director at Martin Williams Advertising. It’s a variation on an old marketing strategy, the sandwich board. “But any way you look at it, it’s inexpensive outdoor advertising,” he said.

那就是人体广告牌，马丁威廉斯广告公司主管葛伦．卡沃斯基如此表示。这是旧式营销策略：三明治式广告牌的一种变化形式。「但无论从任何角度来看，都称得上是廉价的户外广告，」他指出。

The past two years have been especially hard on businesses that sell luxury items such as jewelry, said Crystal Mely, co-owner of Park Diamond. To survive, she adapted. She moved to a smaller location and took to the streets. Or at least her grandkids did, dressed as fairies in one outing, Wizard of Oz characters in another and most recently, a “bride” in a wedding gown, waving to cars driving by on a busy street.

帕克钻石（饰品店）合伙老板克莉丝多．梅莉表示，过去两年来，贩卖如珠宝等奢侈品的公司尤其倍感艰困。为了生存，她只好做出调适，不但搬到了更小的店址，甚至还走上街头，至少她孙子们的确如此，他们有次外出时身穿仙子服，另有一次则打扮成《绿野仙踪》的人物，最近更是穿上了新娘礼服打扮成「新娘」，向繁忙街道上的来往车辆挥手。

“It triples my traffic when I have my grandkids helping out,” Mely said.

「有了孙子们的帮忙之后，就让店里的客流量增为三倍，」梅莉表示。

If on-street marketing works so well, why aren’t more businesses doing it? Like any pursuit, not everyone is good at it. It’s the ebullient characters who strut, smile and make us laugh who pull us in.

如果街头营销成效如此良好，为什么没有更多公司效法呢？答案是就像任何事业一样，并非人人都能擅长。吸引客人上门的，是那些热情洋溢的人物，他们昂首阔步、面带微笑又令人发笑。

The wavers have to be appropriate to the brand, Karwoski said. You probably won’t see a person in a robin’s-egg blue box dancing to coax big spenders into Tiffany’s.

卡沃斯基指出，向客人招手的人，必须符合品牌本身才行。你可能就不会看到有人穿着蓝绿色盒子跳着舞来哄劝出手大方的买家到蒂芙尼购物（译注：蒂芙尼的特色就是装珠宝用的蓝绿色盒子，此指以高雅着称的该品牌应该不会采用这种略显俗气的方式来营销）。

Little Caesars in St. Paul tries to have a person holding a sign every weekday from 4 to 7 p.m., when people are heading home for supper.

圣保罗的小凯萨则试图在每个工作日（译注：指没有休假而正常上班的日子）下午四点至七点，也就是人们返家吃晚餐的期间，请人举着牌子。

“It’s a great marketing tool, and it does work,” manager John Ryan said.

「这是绝佳的营销工具，而且实在有效，」经理约翰．莱恩表示。

－by John Ewoldt

单词发音

Vocabulary Focus

adapt [əˋdæpt] v. 改变…以适合 to change something to suit different conditions or uses

take to the streets (idiom) 走上街头[游行]等 to go outside and take some form of action

strut [strʌt] v. 高视阔步；趾高气扬地走 to walk or move in a confident and exciting way, trying to be noticed by other people

coax [koks] v. 劝诱，哄骗 to persuade someone gently to do something or go somewhere

单词发音

More Information

draw in 拉入; 吸引 to pull someone or something into

billboard [ˋbɪl͵bord] n. 广告牌

variation [͵vɛrɪˋeʃən] n. 变形（物）；变化

fairy [ˋfɛrɪ] n. 小妖精；仙女

outing [ˋaʊtɪŋ] n. 户外活动 a walk outdoors

help out 帮助〔某人解决难题〕to assist or aid (someone), esp by sharing the burden

pursuit [pɚˋsut] n. 职业，经历，副业 an activity, such as a vocation or hobby, engaged in regularly

ebullient [ɪˋbʌljənt] adj.（感情等的）奔放的；兴高采烈的 zestfully enthusiastic

Benjamin Moore TIFF 2011 Walking Billboard Campaign in Toronto