The Hot Dog Vendor

"Shhhhh!…The Revolution lives on …pass it on"
Business 2.0, Aug 2001
Now is the time to advertise.

Let me say it again.

Now * is the time to advertise.

Two things happen when the economy starts to slump
1) stock prices fall
2) companies stop advertising

Do you know what happens to ad prices when companies stop advertising?

Ad prices go down!

"But," you ask,
"Isn't it risky to advertise when the economy is bad?"

That question reminds me of a story I heard first back in 1991.
The last time the U.S. economy was in a recession…
It's called the Hot Dog Vendor.

The Hot Dog Vendor

"Once upon a time there was a hot dog vendor who made a very respectable living selling hot dogs in the street.

He did well enough to send his son off to college to study business. The Hot Dog Vendor couldn't be more proud of his son.

At the semester break, his son came home from college.

Upon arriving home, he asked his father how business had been.

The Hot Dog Vendor said it seemed like everything was just fine.

"Don't you know these are bad times for business?" said the son.
My economics professor says we are in a recession and companies are cutting back on all costs.

The Hot Dog Vendor, not being college-educated himself said,
"I guess my son is right, maybe I should cut back on my advertising."

So that he did.

The Hot Dog Vendor went all over town and took down all of his signs.

Sure enough, his sales went down.

- - - - --- --- -

The moral of the story here is

Don't listen to the experts

If you've heard the phrase "buy low, and sell high"
Then you know that now is the time to buy advertising.

Buy it low, sell high.

Without advertising, a terrible thing happens…

Nothing*

Advertise! Advertise! Advertise!

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