Now here’s an interesting case of privatization of the government sector - KFC is filling potholes in Louisville, where the company is based. In exchange, they get to stamp the filled pothole with an ad.
At first glance, it doesn’t sound like too bad of a deal, you know, besides the obvious problem of LETTING COMPANIES BRAND THE HELL OUT OF EVERYTHING:
While some people might question the wisdom, or safety, of letting corporations cover the nation’s roads with advertising slogans — particularly in return for such a small amount of money — the chain’s hometown leapt at the offer to fill 350 potholes.
“Budgets are tight for cities across the country, and finding funding for needed road repairs is a continuing challenge,†Louisville’s Mayor Jerry Abramson said in a joint statement with the company. “It’s great to have a concerned corporation like KFC create innovative private/public partnerships like this pothole refresh program.â€
Okay. Until, you know, PETA offered to double KFC’s offer:
PETA wants to do the same, but they want to add their own rendition of Kentucky Fried Chicken founder, Col. Harland Sanders. PETA depicts him as an evil Colonel Sanders, complete with horns, next to the tagline “KFC Tortures Animalsâ€.
The economy must be really bad if PETA is willing to shovel something other than the animal bodies they kill every day. I guess if we don’t want the government to take care of certain things, our alternative is having ads constantly shoved in our faces every day. I just do what Mark Thames did: I make my kids point at it and say, “you’re not fooling anyone!”
Somebody make the madness stop.
Speaking of the economy, it’s causing problems for our library systems that go way beyond not being able to find any personal finance books on the shelves.
The homeless and newly jobless are using libraries in record numbers and situations are arising that librarians are not equipped to handle. From people asking for help filling out job applications because they can’t read or write, or sit at the computer to use the Internet even though they don’t know what the Internet is, to adults being frustrated with kids signing up and using the computers for gaming when they are trying to look for work, to programs filled to capacity, to theft, to violence breaking out, problems are arising that librarians are not trained or equipped to handle.
Some police officers are even including walking through libraries as a part of their beats.
“We hope things get better,†said Lt. Paul Vernon, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Department, noting the difficulty of policing libraries. “The library is a place where people tend to congregate, and from a public and government standpoint, you can’t really restrict people.â€
While true, and while I think people should have access to the library, librarians can’t do the jobs they already have if they have to spend their time acting as counselors and first-responders. It definitely presents an opportunity for local churches and non-profits, not to mention hopefully well-equipped individuals, to step in and offer tangible help to people in need.
We could all stand to help each other out right now.
I heard about KFC/Louisville story on NPR. Two things I thought were interesting. First, the ad will wear off the road relatively quickly. I can’t remember how long they anticipated it would last, but maybe just a few months. Two, KFC offered money to the city and asked how they money they wanted to give could help the city. It was the city’s idea to use the money to fill potholes.
first, let me just say how much i LOATHE PETA. they’re willing to insult just about any demographic and engage in all “isms” in order to get their “point” across.
second, we’ve noticed the library thing at ours. deanna spends a lot of time there studying, and was using the internet there when ours was down for a couple of weeks. that is some prime real estate during a recession and there were definitely some grumpy folks waiting their turn while not just kids looked at youtube or some crap.