Anonymous billboard urging boycott. Photo: M. Imlay.
At first I thought this new billboard along Sunset’s 4400 block might be the work of advertising amateurs — or possibly a lone disgruntled customer angry enough to splurge on an outdoor display. The slogan’s catchy enough, but there’s nothing to support the message or make us care. For all we know, the alleged “injustice” is that Vermont Hand Wash stiffs you on air freshener.
And why should Los Feliz, Hollywood and Silver Lake motorists join an anonymous boycott? The billboard offers no sponsor name, no contact number for further information, not even a website to visit. Not very effective advertising.
Thank heavens for Google. Search on “car wash + injustice” and up pops a web page for a group calling itself the Clean Carwash Campaign, currently in organizing and labor disputes with Vermont Hand Wash. The campaign says it’s working to clean up car washes all over L.A., but it’s clear from the website that they’ve narrowed their wrath on the Pirian Family, which owns six washes throughout the area.
According to an AFL-CIO blog, the signage is the latest in an ongoing “billboard war” that has struggled to find just the right wording.
Personally, I think it could use a little more tweaking.
