Signs of the times

  Is this the worst sell-line ever? I saw this poster on a bus shelter in the east-end of London. The Polish city of Gdansk is famous for being the birthplace of Solidarity the trade union movement which helped overturn Communist rule in the 1980s. I'll be the first to admit  that rebranding the city as a tourist destination is more than a little tricky. But this?

Maybe nothing special will happen, maybe you'll leave as planned, maybe for some reason you'll decide to stay on, maybe . . .

Er, no, maybe not.

Perhaps they should take some tips from capitalist old hands KFC - the fried chicken based fast food outlet. Here is a novel way to entice customers into one of their establishments - make a virtue of the fact that they clean their plates. Now - please enlighten me if you know otherwise - but aren't clean plates a requirement of all restaurants? And anyway, if it's as finger lickin' good as they say their food is - would the plates need cleaning?

If you want to make a point - the best way is to be direct and to the point. The final sign, which was outside a pub in Leicester, UK, makes it absolutely clear what the house rules are. Clear, to the point and unambiguous . . . and no customers.