Jacksonville FL Real Estate Update

I came home one day last week and was greeted by little pieces of paper blowing all over the lawns of our beautiful neighborhood.  Additionally, there were little sandwich baggies in every driveway.   When I pulled into my own driveway in the back of our subdivision there were several of these pieces of paper in my yard too and there it was - the little plastic baggy waiting in the driveway.

So what accounted for all this unsightly litter?  Advertisements!  That's right, a lawn service had apparently tried to put their little ads on all the mailboxes and whatever they used to 'adhere' them to the boxes didn't work so the papers were littering the lawns. 

And the baggies?  Well, lo and behold, they contained another advertisement for a house cleaning company.  Each baggie contained the ad and a rock.  I can only assume that the rock was inserted to make it easier to toss the baggies out of a car window onto each driveway and then hold the baggie ad in place (okay, kudos for making it easier for me to pick it up and toss it in the trash... I was forced to chase down the other ads that were blowing all over the place.)

Now, I have never seen a real estate agent litter in this manner but I have seen agents placing ads under the windshield wipers of cars in parking lots.  Again, a large number of these ads get tossed on the ground and blow all over the place making an unsightly mess.  The litter is but one aspect of this method that I dislike.  The other is that I don't want anyone messing with my car and pulling on the windshield wipers. 

When I receive these 'ads' I take a very good look at them, make sure I note the name of the business that placed the ad and then VOW to myself to NEVER give them any of my business.  (I had to stop eating at a favorite bar-b-que restaraunt a few years ago because of this stance I take.... and I LOVE bar-b-que, so this was quite a sacrifice! LOL)

So, I asked a few agents what they thought of the technique and whether or not they had ever used it or would consider using it.  Several said they had or would.  I pointed out the 'litter' problem and the possibility of breaking someone's windshield wiper and they agreed that this is not good and actually a violation of city ordinance and fineable (is that how it is spelled?). 

"So," I asked, "Why do you do it?"  The answer given by each? "Because it works."  This is just one example of various things that either 'push the envelope' or are downright illegal that some agents engage in with marketing.  You can probably think of many others.  I know that I can.

Perhaps it was just the way I was raised but I just don't believe that "It works" makes "It" right.