Sign Wars: Don Ayotte vs. Glen Urquhart (RT 1 North Lewes to Milford)
Ayotte wins on points. Font size points. He has far fewer signs, but you can read his name. Glen Urquhart tiny red font on a dark blue background are impossible to read at 55 mph. Ayotte’s fewer signs are impossible to miss.
I’ve often wondered whether signs actually have any impact. They do nothing for me except as data that may be indicative of a candidate’s support but do the signs actually influence voters?
Urquhart’s signs may be more numerous, but you’ll notice that many/most of his signs are located on undeveloped land and that each parcel is saturated wit his signs. I think an apt comparison would be how many individual parcels/homes/business have one sign or another versus quantity.
Which reminds me I have go pick up my sign!
All effective marketing contains some degree of repetition. I don’t think that you could find anyone who would say that they were swayed by a sign, but the sign in combination with a door hanger, or a radio spot builds up that familiarity.
Within a neighborhood it gives a sense of how committed a person is to the candidate. (4-5’s). When I am down with a candidate, I always put a sign on my low traffic front yard to let my neighbors know where I stand.
Oooh, campaign signs!!! I love this topic. Way too much for my own sanity.
I’m fascinated by businesses that put signs up. Why would you risk turning off a third or more of your customers and clients?
With design, you have to go big and bold, with contrasting colors, so drivers can catch a glimpse at 65 mph and have it retained. White on blue seems to be pretty good for that; white on red (Joan Deaver), not so much. Stylized fonts and graphics/logos clutter it all up, unless it’s universally known (like the Obama O). Odd colors (green, yellow) can be eyecatching, but white text on yellow (seen it too many times) should get the designer fired and the printer publicly humiliated for allowing the client to pay for them. It’s unreadable.
Yes, I saw the large font red text on white background of Ayotte’s signs on Rt.1, and it was very readable, even at 65mph. I also spotted them all over Eastern Sussex. People tell me that he is campaigning door to door daily and not just to republicans. He has been very visible.
So far, I agree that he is in the lead in “Sign Wars.”
There’s a business in Brandywine Hundred that does it the right way. They let anybody running for office put up a sign. Exxon station, corner of Foulk and Silverside. They also let local schools, swim clubs, etc., do weekend car washes there.
Ayotte and Witzke (who’s challenging Mike Vincent) are using the same style sign (Witzke’s are blue font) and the same exact slogan.