I have two things to say:

A.)Broken! It would cost less to advertise in the paper or on a billboard

B.)FIRST!

Posted by: Gabriel J. Smolnycki at February 13, 2007 07:45 AM

Who would want to hire a lawn care company that makes lawns dirty by littering on them? Not me.

That would be like going to an AA meeting at Anheuser-Busch.

Posted by: Haggai at February 13, 2007 09:49 AM

As an ad, this isn't broken.

But it is possibly broken when you consider it's inconvenient to the recipient - but then, most ads are.

Posted by: Sashazur at February 13, 2007 02:10 PM

I'm at a loss here... I don't really see what's broken about this. I'm not saying it's not broken, just that I'm not seeing it.

Yes, it might be less expensive to run an ad in the paper, but how does that in and of itself make for a broken experience for the consumer?

I can see how it might be considered broken by littering, just for the fact of them even putting the thing on your property, but in the bag in with rocks in it, it would probably tend to become less likely to really be litter since it won't blow around and end up who knows where. However, I also don't really see the correlation between litter and the lawn care industry. By cutting your grass they are not purposely doing anything about litter, so why would an ad in a bag that won't blow around and become litter make you not want to use their service?

Now, if it were an ad for a garbage and recyclables removal service, I could see the irony in it.

Posted by: Memnon at February 13, 2007 02:47 PM

I get these sort of things all the time here (suburban Atlanta)...and I've had some strange ones, such as the person advertising hardwood floor installations who actually put a piece of flooring instead of the usual rocks or marbles in the baggie. To me, they're broken only when they land in the yard rather than the driveway and don't get seen...

Posted by: SC at February 13, 2007 03:10 PM

I HATE these things... when someone like me, who cannot afford to have their lawns mowed, has to mow their own and they run over these things... lets just say not pretty.

Posted by: VHoratio at February 13, 2007 04:37 PM

Not the most elegant advertising campaign I've seen. But at least the ad hasn't been mistaken for an explosive device by the Boston Police (yet) which, I now realize, is an underrated quality.

Posted by: KarmaBaby at February 13, 2007 08:03 PM

I think it's an effective advertizing technique, inasmuch as people will likely read it.

I'm just not sure it's promoting a positive image of the company. It's littering!

Posted by: DavesBrain at February 13, 2007 09:31 PM

Not broken. Broken would be something like a paint touch-up service that chips your paint, or one of these things ending up in the font seat of your car after having gone through the windshield. As it is, I see this as no different than one of those inserts that come in your paper.

Posted by: The Quux at February 13, 2007 10:33 PM

"Not the most elegant advertising campaign I've seen. But at least the ad hasn't been mistaken for an explosive device by the Boston Police (yet) which, I now realize, is an underrated quality."

If you saw some evil-looking flashing electronic ghetto-style circuit boards scattered around a city, would your think they're ads?

Anyway, that ad is funny, but not really broken. It's just a clever but not-so-pretty solution to a common problem: ads that blow around, get wet, and end up becoming litter, having never been read.

"I HATE these things... when someone like me, who cannot afford to have their lawns mowed, has to mow their own and they run over these things... lets just say not pretty."

Sounds like a great marketing strategy to me. You're driving you lawnmower, sweaty and tired, when you see something in your way. You pick it up, and it says "You don't have to get sweaty and tired mowing your lawn!"

Posted by: TIBE4ME at February 14, 2007 11:07 PM

Not only is this annoying litter, it's a misdemeanor in California under Penal Code 556.1. I can't wait until someone looses a freakin' eye after running this over with their lawn mower. Anyone else see the irony in advertising to clean up your property by littering it?

Posted by: jetsetclothing.com at February 16, 2007 03:33 PM

Yup. This *IS* littering and it's illegal. If you want to stop this kind of mess and danger (rocks on the lawn, anyone?), you should report it to the local authorities and let the company know, too. They just don't realize how stupid they're being.

Posted by: interlard at February 17, 2007 07:43 PM