The Sneaky Way Companies Get Free Advertising | Andrew Lloyd of Beaver, PA.

 Andrew Lloyd of Beaver, PA — a mild mannered man who had grown tired of the suffocating feeling of the modern commercial world — did everything he possibly could to stay untethered to corporate America’s tricks. He attempted to achieve this goal by any means: from limiting his time on his phone each day in order to minimize the amount of ads targeted towards his usual activities to refusing to click the notorious “accept all cookies” option when he visited a new website. It seemed like with these precautions, Andrew Lloyd would never have to be a pawn for companies. However, there was one trick that he never took notice of — a trick that was giving one industry thousands in free advertising. 

It started after he purchased a used car from a local seller. It was in great condition, had low mileage, and had the perfect accommodations for his day to day needs. The car was affordable and the process went seamlessly — something that he wouldn’t expect from car salesmen who usually have been pretty tricky in his past experiences. Once he got home he took another look at the car, admiring it before he noticed something: a decal stuck to the car’s backside advertising the dealership that he didn't even buy from. He tried everything to remove it; he used a blow dryer to try and break the seal, tried to loosen it up with WD40, and even took it back to the dealer to have them remove it, but to no avail. 

Before long, Andrew Lloyd started to notice similar travelling commercials everywhere he went. Almost every car he passed had a decal, or in some cases a whole license plate, that was dedicated to giving credit back to the car dealership. It turns out that the car industry is able to take advantage of its customers, sneaking their name onto personal possessions and using it for a wealth of free advertising. When he thought about it, he realized that it was actually someone’s car dealership sticker that started his Google search for a car. “Why should we be advertising for them when we’re not even getting paid?”,  Andrew Lloyd of Beaver, PA thought to himself. 

To make matters worse, it’s not as if the used car industry does not have the financial resources necessary to do their own advertising. With the supply of used cars being so low because of the pandemic, it is certainly a seller’s market as of now. Car dealerships can charge exorbitant prices and still have no problems making sales because of how high the demand currently is. And they are not alone. A number of industries have been able to take advantage of their target market by way of these simple tricks especially in the midst of the pandemic. Using subtle techniques to make their customers their own personal advertisers. As their reach grows, they are able to bring on more customers, and thus the free advertising expands upon itself. 


                                                                Free advertising by Clear Lake Nissan

        Have you heard “There’s no such thing as a free lunch?" There is in advertising! Businesses are finding many clever ways to get free advertising. Businesses want to cut down cost so there marketing budget goes further. This is done with creative options that really do not seem like advertising. If you want to take advantage of a car situation then ask for an agreement if you keep the decals on your car you get free oil changes, car washes or tire rotations for life/until you don’t have the car anymore says Andrew Lloyd. Make it a condition of acceptance to remove all decals that are not OEM. Refuse delivery if the dealership placed decals on the vehicle.

Please share any experiences below of clever advertising strategies.

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