Promotion Ross Style

"I got an idea," Ross pulled out a chair and sat down at the table with J-- and a couple of the morning regulars who enjoying the warmth of the gas fireplace behind them and the sunshine pouring through the windows in front of the.

"An idea huh?" said J-- with a sly smile, "haven't we warned you to stay away from them?"

The regulars around the table laughed as Ross shook his head.

"No, this is a good one," he insisted.

"Let's hear it," said J-- placing the Brewit tea pot on his mug and decanting another shot of Organic Manitoba tea.

"Well, do you remember the old shampoo commercial where the young woman said "I told two friends, who told two friends, who told two friends ..."

"And so on and so on and so on," chimed in J--, "and then they showed the screen with more and more pictures of the gal ..."

"You've seen it?" asked Ross excitedly.

"Yeah sure," said J-- looking confused, "I saw it back in the 70's when it was on. But what does it have to do with your idea. Or is remembering it your BIG idea?" a grin passed over J--'s face as he lifted his mug up and took a sip.

"Wasn't that the commercial where the old guy came out and said 'I was so impressed that I bought the company?'" asked one of the regulars.

"Nay," replied the other regular, "that was a razor commercial, and it was the old guy who used to own the New England Patriots."

"Bet he's not as impressed now," said the first regular, "with the success the Pats are having."

"He's dead," observed the second regular.

"His Pats winning did him in?" asked J--

"Nay, he's been gone for a long time," observed the second regular, "but when he owned the Pats they couldn't win if the other team decided not to even show up. So this season would be a bit of a shock for him."

"What does all of this have to do with a shampoo commercial?" asked Ross confused.

"Huh?" said J-- with a stunned look crossing his face.

"What does talking about the Pats have to do with my idea?" asked Ross again, still looking confused.

"Nothing," answered the first regular, "we're just chatting about stuff. You're the one who brought up an old tv commercial."

"What's next?" asked J--, "Haul out a Marlin Perkins' double to do a spoof on Mutual of Omaha?"

"While Jim headed up river to wrestle the deadly Little Saskatchewan Man eating Alligator," said one of the regulars in his best imitation of Perkins, "I stayed behind and sipped the finest dark roast blend of coffee at Chipperfields."

"Don't forget the Carrot Cake," offered the second regular happily.

"Oh yeah," said the first regular, "just like the mummy alligator chomping down on its lunch, you can stop by Chipperfields to chomp down on a slice of delicious homemade carrot cake."

The three men at the table shared in a laugh.

"No, my idea isn't just remembering an old commercial," said Ross trying to reclaim and tame the conversation, "my idea uses the old commercial though."

"You gonna get one of the Chipperfield girls here," with his thumb the regular gestured over to the counter where JayDee was busy preparing a customer's order, "to go on camera and say - "it was so good I told two friends, who told two friends, who told two friends ..."

J-- and the other regular joined in the chorus, "and so on and so on and so on ..."

The other regular sipped his coffee before speaking, "I still think the Perkins idea could work though ..."

Ross paused before speaking, he glanced at the regular shook his head slightly then opened his mouth to speak as his face began to redden, "I wasn't intending to run a commercial or any thing like that," he paused and shrugged, "but now that you mention it ..."

The three men around the table began to laugh again.

"So, what's your idea?" asked J-- again, "or are you gonna make us guess?"

"Well, my idea is kind of like that old commercial," said Ross, "but instead of a tv commercial, I was going to encourage my customers to go and tell their two of their friends to come by and check us out, and then get each of those customers to tell two of their friends who will then come by and tell two of their friends to come ad check us out ..."

"And so on and so on and so on ..." J-- interrupted as he glanced around the shoppe, "so do you think you have room to accommodate the crowds that could result if all those folks showed up at one time."

"Not too mention the supply of coffee," added one of the regulars helpfully.

"Or the water," said the other regular, "I heard if you have too many five gallon jugs of water refilled at once you over tax the water supply."

Ross gulped, "I wasn't thinking every one would show up at the same time," he glanced over his shoulder nervously towards the office window where Bonnie was busily working beyond the blinds, "and the water thing only happened that one time when we filled 20 five gallon jugs in short order. And the water supply recharged in an hour ..."

"So do you think the word of mouth might actually work?" asked J-- intrigued.

"It couldn't hurt could it?" replied Ross.

"As long as it isn't another one of those schemes like the mail order Holy Water stunt you pulled a year or so ago," said J-- with a laugh.

"Hey that would have worked," offered Ross, "I just needed a little more time to get it off the ground."

"Yeah whatever," laughed J--, "let's not go there ..."

Ross nodded in agreement, looking visibly relieved.

"But I am curious about your notion of telling two friends who tell two friends," said J-- leaning in closer to the table, "and so on and so on. How do you figure this could work."

"Well, it's just using the old word of mouth thing," said Ross, "I want to encourage my customers to tell others about this place. Especially those folks in town who haven't darkened the door in our two and a half years of business."

"Sounds reasonable," said J--, "But don't you think if they haven't been here yet, they likely aren't gonna come in because everyone is talking about what a great place this is?" he waved his hand over his head in a grand flourish.

"Yeah, you can't make someone have good taste in coffee or tea," said one of the regulars.

"But you can through word of mouth," offered Ross hopefully, "encourage folks to stop by and check us out."

"That idea is crazy enough it just might work," said J--.

The two regulars stared at him with smirks on their faces.

"That's all I can hope for," offered Ross quietly, "That and everyone who stops by telling two more friends about us ..."

"I'll get started on it next time I'm bowling," said one of the regulars.

"And I'll tell everyone I meet next time I go down to Timmy's in Brandon," said J-- with a big smile.

Ross' eyes widened in wonder, "you serious?"

"Nay," said J-- holding the final syllable, "I would, but they're the wrong kinda people for a place like this ..." He paused to take a sip from his tea while he smiled like the Cheshire cat at Ross.

Ross just shook his head.