Bad Marketing Plans, Part 1

So today I get into my boyfriend's car and on the front seat is a postcard with a picture of a blonde eastern European looking girl. She looks vaguely sedated and a little ashamed of herself, and her outfit is a little on the skanky--I mean sexy--side. Who is she? Is she a stripper? An escort? An invitation to participate in human trafficking?

Nope, she's a model. And the card is an invitation to join her agency.

So I asked J where he got the card, and he tells me he found it on his car.

"Wow," I said. "That's such a smart marketing plan! I can't think of any better way to discover models than by putting cards on cars the owner is nowhere near so you can't tell what they look like!"

Now, J is a handsome man. Unfortunately, he isn't a big fan of having his picture taken, so it's not likely he was going to sign on with the agency. Oh, and the card was looking for women. I love him, but, while he may be more feminine than Samantha Ronson, he's not exactly going to pass for a hot chick anytime soon.

Now, we live in a neighborhood where, if you park on the street, when you next get in your car, you're likely to find fliers and cars advertising everything from cleaning services to vacations to auto parts to discount calling cards with great rates to Mexico on them. And that's fine. Everyone needs a cleaning service or auto parts at one time or another, and a lot of the people in my neighborhood are both calling Mexico and looking to travel there pretty regularly.

But a modeling agency? I'm not sure you can just throw a card on someone's car and hit a model every time. I doubt you could do it 5% of the time. Particularly if the car is a PT Cruiser. In terms of ROI, you're probably not even going to break even.

On a scale of one to ten, with one being kind of weird but it just might work and ten being the worst idea ever, I give this modeling agency an 8.