Should Blagojevich Buy a Franchise? Which One?
January 30, 2009 by Sean Kelly · Comments Off
America’s least desirable politician may now be America’s MOST eligible prospective franchisee.
Now that impeached IL Governor Rod Blagojevich has been downsized by the senate, he finds himself in a unique situation. He is 
suddenly unemployed, and, having been fired for cause, probably not eligible for Unemployment Compensation. Though he is a lawyer, reputable laws firms won’t touch him because he’s a crook. Disreputable law firms won’t touch him because he wasn’t good at being a crook. So, at least for a while, he’s untouchable as an employment candidate.
Franchising is Rod Blagojevich’s best option. Think about it: It’ll give him a chance to leverage some company’s (any company’s) reputation and hide his own. It will give him clear guidelines to follow & a team of people to make sure he follows it. And it will give him a chance to put his hard-coerced cash into play and out of the paper bags in his basement before those busybodies start sniffing around.
But which franchise will best optimize Blagojevich’s unique skill set and personal assets? Here are a few ideas – add your own below.
Supercuts?
Roosters Men’s Grooming Centers?
The Hair Club for Men?
FastBucks PayDay Loans?
Goin Postal Shipping?
Richard Quick’s GRATE FUN! Adventure Park?
Coast To Coast Bail Bonds?
WHAT FRANCHISE DO YOU THINK BLAGO SHOULD BUY? LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW!
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Photo Credit: robertodevido License: Creative Commons
CARL’S JR: Top 10 Tributes to John the Toilet
January 29, 2009 by Sean Kelly · Comments Off
It’s been a rough week, so let’s flush our cares away with some lowbrow potty humor, shall we?
After all, that’s what the Carl’s Jr. marketing folks did after a customer’s legally registered handgun accidentally discharged and destroyed their restroom’s toilet in a Utah local Carl’s Jr. (Read CARL’S JR.: Toilet Killed in Shooting, Memorial Service Set)
The crew’s decision to announce a mock memorial service for their fallen comrade John turned the near tragedy into a few newspaper stories and some online traffic to the Carl’s Jr. FaceBook and Twitter pages.
Carl’s Jr. marketers kept their joke running with a low-key attitude and participatory spirit. Online commenters had fun adding their mini-eulogies and tributes to Facebook and news stories. Here are FranchisePick’s choices for
TOP 10 Tributes to John the Toilet:
#10 “… he always was a crappy shot.” Tom
#9 “RIP Carl’s Jr. toilet. I’m sure you were missed – frequently.” Peter
#8 “”D*mn those accidental discharges… they’ll get you in the end.” shawn
#7 “I did that to a toilet once. I do not own a handgun.” Peter
#6 “That gives new definition to being shot in the head,” Deseret reader
#5 “Incredibly moving.” Dave
#4 “…at Carl’s Jr. Mr. Whipple should say “Please don’t squeeze the trigger”. K Barton
#3 “I know he hated to leave his customers behind” Sean
#2 “Fallen in the line of dooty…” Melissa
And the #1 Top Tribute to John the Toilet is…
#1 “R.I. Pee” Danielle
We Twitter at @FranchisePick
WHAT DO YOU THINK? SHARE A TRIBUTE TO JOHN THE TOILET BELOW.
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TRULY NOLEN: The Truly Outrageous Mouse Limo
January 29, 2009 by Sean Kelly · Comments Off
Tucson-based Truly Nolen of America is one of the largest family owned pest control companies in the United States. Founded in 
1938, Truly Nolen has 69 branch offices in Arizona, California, Florida, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas and Utah. The company also has independently owned and operated franchises in an ever-growing number of territories including California, Florida, Kentucky, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Texas as well as Puerto Rico.
What truly sets Truly Nolen apart from the competition is its whimsical use of vehicles, including the mouse limo, cars and trucks for brand recognition and marketing.
According to the Truly Nolen website: “Our trademark yellow mouse cars and yellow trucks have helped identify Truly Nolen as the pest control company with a sense of humor and a taste for fun. These highly visible moving billboards have been around since 1961 and are only one of the many things that give Truly Nolen its distinctive flair.”
Pictured above and right is the Truly Nolen corporate limo. To the right is the VW mouse car used by Truly Nolen franchisees and their employees in local markets.
No one can accuse Truly Nolen of being too subtle – or taking themselves too serious.
Photo credits: Truly Nolen, used by permission.
WHAT DO YOU THINK? SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.
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How Franchise Companies Should Respond to Negative Blog Comments
January 26, 2009 by Sean Kelly · Comments Off
FranchisePick.com gets posts hundreds of comments per month, and some of them are rather, shall we say, unflattering. How should your franchise company (or non-franchise company) respond to negative blog comments? Join the conversation? Lash back? Call in the lawyers? Hope it goes away on its own?
Mack Collier has a good post on the subject at Marketing Profs. He tells how the company Hardwood Artisans (and his friend, owner Allison) landed a good blog story, but became the target of negative comments regarding their employee benefits program. Allison correctly joined the conversation, and turned the negative into more positive exposure. Collier writes:
Prior to my friend Allison commenting, the post had 6 comments, all of which were either critical, or downright negative toward Hardwood Artisians. Allison did exactly what you should do if your company is coming under fire. She kept her cool, politely thanked the commenters for their feedback, and set the record straight about how the company handled providing health insurance to its employees. And she also did something else that’s very important; she invited commenters to continue to leave her feedback…
When Allison left that comment, the entire tone of the conversation changed…After Allison’s comment, 11 other people commented, and ten of them were positive. Most even came to the defense of HA, and one commenter added: “Still, if nothing else, my hat is off to Alison for being willing to step into the lion’s den to answer questions”
Collier sums up the lessons to be learned:
1 – If someone is leaving negative comments about your company, respond.
2 – Be thankful and polite. Nothing escalates a negative comment into a full-bore flamewar faster than an ‘Oh yeah?!?’ reply from the company.
3 – If commenters are jumping to the wrong conclusion about your company, kindly correct them with the proper information.
4 – Thank them for their feedback, and encourage them to provide more. Leave your email address so they can contact you off the blog, if they choose.
If you are thankful and respectful toward commenters, even those that are attacking your company, the end result will almost always be a positive experience.
Good advice and a good example. Read the whole post here: How Should Your Company Handle Negative Blog Comments?
WHAT DO YOU THINK? SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.
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TanWorld: Creating the Next-Generation Tanning Salon Franchise
OVERVIEW Interview with Tanworld V.P. Bob McQuillan
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KRISPY KREME: Obama Gets Into Coffee… Literally
January 26, 2009 by Sean Kelly · Comments Off
Barack Obama is into coffee… literally. Krispy Kreme in Britain cashed in on the inaugural fervor by offering coffee with the likeness of our President in the coffee foam. Check out this clever franchise promotion:
WHAT DO YOU THINK? SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.
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TanWorld: Creating the Next-Generation Tanning Salon Franchise
OVERVIEW Interview with Tanworld V.P. Bob McQuillan
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Mr. Aquarium Toilet: Next Hot Franchise?
January 25, 2009 by Sean Kelly · Comments Off
(Franchise humor) While franchise concepts have been exported from the U.S. to across the globe, I predict an increase in unique, exotic and innovative business concepts imported to the U.S. via franchising. My search for promising overseas concepts led me to the discovery of Japan’s amazing aquarium toilet. I don’t know what they’re saying in the video, but I hope it’s that franchises are available:
Imagine the press you’ll get just from the protests by People for the Ethical Treatment of Fish (PETF). And with an investment of only 3,000 <i>something</i>, you’ll be flush in no time.
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Captain D’s Video Tries to DeClaw Red Lobster
January 23, 2009 by Sean Kelly · Comments Off
Wow! Talk about a battle at sea… Captain D’s puts the lobster pot on full boil with this scathingly funny response to a Red Lobster cease & desist letter. I’m sure the law firms are the ones salivating the most about the legal feast to come. Ought to be interesting.
This is a ballsy move (sorry, I’m out of seafood metaphors) for Captain D’s… but desperate times call for desperate measures. What do you think?
The Captain D’s spokesperson not only rips up the Red Lobster cease & desist letter on camera, but offers free t-shirts to supporters.
I can hear the claws snapping now…
WHAT DO YOU THINK? SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.
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CARL’S JR.: Toilet Killed in Shooting, Memorial Service Set
January 22, 2009 by Sean Kelly · Comments Off
Does silliness sell burgers? How about bathroom gunfire? A Utah Carl’s Jr. hopes so. After a customer’s legally registered handgun accidentally discharged and destroyed their restroom’s toilet, the local Carl’s Jr. – assumedly hoping to capitalize on the ensuing publicity – issued a press release announcing a memorial service for the fallen kimode. It reads:
CENTERVILLE, Utah — January 22, 2009 — Following the accidental shooting and destruction of a toilet at a Carl’s Jr. restaurant in
Previous coverage can be viewed at The Salt Lake Tribune http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_11451417?source=rss.
“By all accounts, it was a good toilet; reliable and well liked by customers and crew members alike,” said Brad Haley, executive vice president of Carl’s Jr. marketing. “So, it seems only fitting to have a formal service to let everyone say goodbye to such a critical member of our team that was in very close contact with the public each and every day. Our thoughts go out to the surviving men’s room urinal and porcelain sink. We only hope that the new toilet can fill the void left by its predecessor, but so far it hasn’t made much of a splash.”
“It was such a shame,” said Centerville Carl’s Jr. manager, Christian Martinez. “We have received e-mails and cards from all over the country expressing condolences for our loss. People will have the chance to say goodbye in their own way at the memorial service, and we’ll be handing out bottles of Kaboom® Bowl Blaster toilet cleaner to the first 50 attendees. It was the toilet’s favorite.”
We learned about the incident from an announcement that came across the @FranchisePick Twitter feed, issued by @CarlsJr.
While tragic, I would anticipate that the wait time for Carl’s Jr. bathrooms will cut down considerably, at least in Utah.
WHAT DO YOU THINK? SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.
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Photo credit: Carl’s Jr. PR
BURGER KING: SNL Whopper Virgin Parody
January 21, 2009 by Sean Kelly · Comments Off
Burger King has done it again… earned a spoof by Saturday Night Live. This time it’s a parody of the bizarre Whopper Virgin ad campaign. Take a look:
The tradition of SNL spoofing bad Burger King campaigns goes back at least as far as “Where’s Herb?”
This time Neil Patrick Harris plays a spokesman for Burger King who asks residents from Budesti, Romania who’ve never tasted a Whopper or Big Mac, which one of the tasty burgers they like best. One man protests that he’s rather bring them back to his village and feed the villagers for a month. A woman confesses that she is not, in fact, a virgin… and it’s her uncle’s fault. Another man appears to be the village idiot.
Is it really possible that there’s a village that does not yet have a McDonald’s or Burger King? C’mon guys… let’s get cracking!
WHAT DO YOU THINK? SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.
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Visit FRANBEST’s: Unbiased franchise information, franchise interviews and detailed, searchable information on 400 franchise and business opportunities.
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Franchisees, customers & experts vote for their favorite new franchises at Top New Franchise: Who’s hot. Who’s not.
Is Now The Perfect Time to Buy a Franchise?
January 21, 2009 by Sean Kelly · Comments Off
Is Now The Perfect Time to Buy a Franchise? Some think so… especially those who sell franchises. In this Fox Business interview, Franchoice CEO Jeff Elgin discusses why he feels now is the perfect time to start your own franchise… and which segments of franchising are best in a down economy.
WHAT DO YOU THINK? SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.
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FEATURED STORY:
TanWorld: Creating the Next-Generation Tanning Salon Franchise
OVERVIEW Interview with Tanworld V.P. Bob McQuillan
Visit FRANBEST’s: Unbiased franchise information, franchise interviews and detailed, searchable information on 400 franchise and business opportunities.
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Franchisees, customers & experts vote for their favorite new franchises at Top New Franchise: Who’s hot. Who’s not.
Tags: franchise, franchise opportunities, franchisee, franchising, franchising 2009
