We all measure success in widely varying degrees. A gold star, five stars or, perhaps, front page billing on Reddit. "Look, Mom! More than 1,100 comments!"
Matt Bull, a Dallas-based freelance ad guy recently created a new billboard (seen above) for Chicken Scratch in north Oak Cliff. The ad on Interstate 30, which was designed by illustrator Elliott Park, pokes fun of the interesting real estate of Chicken Scratch and The Foundry: between a trailer park and the condemned Mission Motel. (Speaking of, that motel has character and someone should scoop it up and throw a bunch of money at it for a retro-swank-weird hotel thing).
What's even more fascinating about the area was when theLa Grange Snow Cone stand opened in front of the trailer park and gave away free booze with the snow cones. That concept fascinated me. But it worked. Sort of -- until the city of Dallas recently decided maybe not.
Back to the creepy billboard on I-30. Bull posted it on Reddit yesterday with the note below and it caught on fire:
After 16 years, I quit my ad agency job to work for myself and spend more time with my family. Thought I'd share my first solo ad with you guys -- for a great local restaurant. I've worked with much bigger budgets in every media imaginable, but I've never been more proud of the outcome than this.
Commenters pointed out how this brazen message would never make it out of an ad agency conference room and congratulated him on the ballsy move of leaving the rat race to work freelance at home, which we all know is a total cake walk. Right?
Regardless, Chicken Scratch has often been seen in a different light. Last year its conjoined twin, the Foundry, was listed in Travel and Leisure as one of the best outdoor bars in America. Makes us wonder if they actually paid a visit. How many of their readers leisurely travel to a chicken stand with little parking between a condemned hotel and trailer park?
