Mello's Murfreesboro-based MGM Advertising provides many of the comical sign spinners whom motorists have started to see more frequently along busy Nashville-area roads, tossing, turning and jumping as the mad men of street corner advertising display hand-held signs touting nearby businesses.
"Where it might cost several thousand dollars for one big ad on TV, we can give them two months of our services, directing customers straight into their businesses," said Mello, who came up with the sign-spinning idea while working at a
T-Mobile store in Murfreesboro. He has since expanded the concept with a partner.
And in the midst of a recession, low-cost, novel ideas have attracted more companies on a budget willing to embrace something different to beef up spotty sales. The sign spinners cost $240 for a six-hour performance, although hourly rates drop the more a company uses the service.
"We've advertised new homes, apartments, wireless-phone companies, orthodontists, haircuts, almost anyone who wants to get a message across," Mello said.
MGM typically hires young people as spinners who have lots of energy and can put some pizzazz into their sidewalk performances. They are taught a variety of tricks, Mello said.
City officials don't always appreciate their presence along busy streets, however. Some municipalities such as Franklin and Brentwood have ordinances that ban signs on public property or any kind of temporary signs.
Mello said he has successfully challenged such ordinances on First Amendment free-speech grounds in some cities, but hasn't tried in Brentwood since being told to stop using the spinners there.
"Under our sign ordinance, we don't permit any signs on the public right of way, which also includes sidewalks," Brentwood City Attorney Roger Horner said. "They are a distraction to drivers."
Brentwood's fine for a violation can be up to $50, Horner said.
Franklin Mayor John Schroer said the city doesn't allow the spinners on public rights of way, including highway medians, but will let them work as long as they stay on private property and they have the property owner's permission.
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