Costumed Sign Wavers vs. Google Ad Words

Author: Jon Maurice (5 Articles)

Exec. Creative Director: lover of hot rods, pop culture, and American literature | Food Network junkie

I crack up every time I see a slightly inebriated sign waver in a soiled gorilla suit, frantically waving an offer for “$5 Pizza,” “Taxes Done Now” or “Buy a Lazy-Boy, Get a Free Plasma TV.

I created a not-so-scientific competition between a sign waver for a local pizza shop and a Google Ad Word campaign for Javelin. The competition was full-on for a nail-biting 24 hours. Results?

IMPRESSIONS
Sign Waver – 22 (cars that drove by)
Google – 75,000

HOURS WORKED
Sign Waver – 2.4 (he was supposed to work 6 but ended up passing out)
Google – 24

ACTIVATION
Sign Waver – ? (I spoke with the pizza manager and he said, “it’s probably a waste but I pay him cash.”)
Google – 32 clicks

COST
Sign Waver – $20
Google – $10

So who wins?  Extrapolated over one month, Javelin’s Google Ad generates 1,000,000+ impressions and hundreds of unique visitors to the website while Pizza Shop’s frantic sign waver generates 3,750 impressions.  While Javelin is a casual office, showing up drunk in a gorilla suit is always frowned upon.  We’ll let you decide who the real winner is, Pizza Shop or Javelin…