[Durham INC] Column: What goes around (Durham News)

[John Schelp]

"Fairway Outdoor Advertising failed to understand its own communication had come back to bite it. It lived and died by its own work..."

Column: What goes around
by Aidil Collins, Durham News, 01 September 2010

My mother used to tell me, if you don't have anything nice to say, you shouldn't say anything at all.

Our country's civil liberties don't limit what we can say. Still, I like to think the grown-up idea behind my mom's saying is that we should use communication for positive purposes. If others endure listening to us, they should get something out of it.

Thank goodness for the Bill of Rights that keeps government from deciding what we can say. Businesses, on the other hand, can control anything they choose to say. Those that promote things that benefit the community can expect community support. Those that don't should expect the wrath of an unhappy public.

At the meeting where the City Council rejected changing the ordinance that regulates public signs like billboards, Fairway Outdoor Advertising failed to understand its own communication had come back to bite it. It lived and died by its own work.

Over the years, I have lamented the billboard advertising for fast food, alcohol, and now ... the Dixie Gun and Knife Show.

In an area that is recovering from past crime trends, health issues and racial strife, the billboard industry has pushed bad buttons by the type of billboards it has placed in East Durham.

I've groaned every time that I passed the signs that mistakenly asked Raleigh residents to go to some other fun destination or pimped out friendly images of community life for the purpose of increasing alcohol sales. It's obvious that Fairway doesn't know Durham or it wouldn't place signs for Raleigh residents in East Durham, or Dixie ads with guns crossed to mimic a Confederate flag in a community whose residents are largely black and Latino. Is anyone at Fairway doing any market research to make sure its messages are compatible with the audience?

Fairway cared more about the cash its ads could fetch than the residents who have to live near its messages. We've had to live with the costs, and now they're paying for it.

Residents who want to do something other than whistle dixie can come to the commemoration of the R. Kelly Bryant Pedestrian Bridge at 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 16, on the south side of the bridge. Bryant is known for knowing some real Durham history. The bridge represents a strong message about togetherness, overcoming negativity and is a symbol of East Durham moving forward as a whole community.

Determination, community and health are all messages that I can support. I'm happy that the R. Kelly Bryant Pedestrian Bridge is bigger than the billboard next to it.