Non Deceptive But Image Enhancing Ads

In 2010 my fellow anti-lawyer advertising contact in the New York Personal Injury Blog published an article and picture soliciting personal injury and DUI cases by depicting a potential client standing in front of a urinal at a South Carolina restaurant.  With tongue in cheek he stated that “Advertising over a urinal has one thing going for it: A captive audience.”

            Surprisingly he received emails upholding the use of such ads by comparing the ad to “those of sports teams or dentists or others.”  Perhaps one distinction is that attorneys are regulated by the Rules of Courts and governing bodies that other professions do not have to comply with.

            The blogs author responded that such ads could be seen by potential jurors and adversely affect their ability to render a fair and impartial verdict in light of the tasteless advertisement.

            Eight years later I am informed that a local popular sports bar/restaurant in the Chattanooga area had such an ad in the men’s room.  (I don’t know if they have lengthened their happy hour and/or lowered their beer prices to encourage more trips to the John.)

            I leave it up to the reader to decide whether Justice Blackmon in the 1978 opinion intended that releasing ones bladder into a urinal falls into the non-deceptive advertising category.

I encourage you to buy local products and hire local, reputable attorneys!