Tube City Almanac

January 11, 2005

Tony Takes the Big Sleep?

Category: default || By jt3y

In response to yesterday's Almanac, an Alert Reader points out in the comments: "(What) used to be Sleep Mart is going out of business everywhere, at least judging from their signage and radio commercials. So, I guess, Tony's had it."

I'll throw in this for free: (Rimshot).

If Sleep Mart is truly folding up its tents, then "Tony's Got It" is yet another example of a clever advertising campaign that was an absolute failure at moving products.

Every ad had those annoying people saying "Tony's Got It! Tony's Got It! Tony's Got It!" until the phrase was embedded in our brains. But they barely mentioned what the real name of the stores was --- "Sleep Mart" --- nor did they emphasize what the stores sold --- namely, mattresses and bedding.

You may have also seen the commercials for AFLAC that feature Gilbert Gottfried returning the corporate spokesduck to the pet store. According to The Wall Street Journal, while the duck commercials have taken AFLAC's name recognition from 12 percent to 90 percent, most of the people who saw the ads still had no idea what the company sold.

For the record: AFLAC sells supplemental insurance for long-term care, or for people who might go on long-term disability after an illness or injury.

Now, if only Tony could have gotten together with a duck, and maybe the gecko from Geico, we might have been able to create commercials so horrifying that Alberto Gonzales wouldn't even allow them to be shown to prisoners.

...

After a hiatus of several months, Christopher Livingston's "Not My Desk" is back in business (sort of) at http://www.notmydesk.com/blog/.

...

"Detroitblog" blows the lid off of the life of a newspaper reporter while attending the North American International Auto Show in his fair city:

Really, as with most press days everywhere, the main appeal for people like me (press types) is the freebies --- the cocktails, the appetizers, the free lunches and dinners, the gimmicky toy giveaways, and the lovely models --- have I mentioned the models? Events like this are the one thing for journalists that almost makes up for the crappy pay, the bad hours, the large number of demented and emotionally disturbed coworkers drawn to this profession, and the utter lack of job security. So if it sounds privileged, it’s really basically a matter of “Well, you might not have a job next week, but here’s a free sandwich and a beer.”


...

There's lots of riveting coverage of the towboat tragedy in the local prints, including a very good piece by Reid Frazier of the Tribune-Review and a great "tick-tock" by Bob Bauder, J.D. Prose and Stephanie Waite in the Beaver County Times.

As far as I can tell, Frazier is the only reporter to get the towboat company's side of the story, while the Times' piece includes some fairly heartbreaking comments from the families of the victims.

...

Finally, there's hope for me at last, according to Alana Semuels in the Post-Gazette:

In October, the Cleveland Clinic was the first institution to receive approval from its institutional review board to perform human facial tissue transplantation --- face transplants --- on severely disfigured patients. And doctors in Louisville, Ky. published an article in the American Journal of Bioethics last fall announcing their intention to move face transplants from the realm of speculation to clinical trials.


I've been told that after they made my face, they broke the mold.

They also fired the mold maker, bulldozed the factory and salted the ground.

(Tip of the Tube City hard hat to an anonymous reader.)






Your Comments are Welcome!

Perhaps “Tony’s Got It” was no match for the annoying yet effective (and now altered) Mattress Discounters jingle “Have a good night’s sleep on us—Mattress Discounters.” They actually worked the name of the store into the slogan. I had heard that Sleep Mart actually was going to change it’s name to “Tony’s Got It” because people weren’t associated the slogan with the store.
Jonathan Potts (URL) - January 11, 2005



Personally, I don’t know if renaming the stores “Tony’s Got It!” would have helped. The name “Tony’s Got It!” does not make me think of “beds,” and also has some ugly connotations when applied to the bedroom. If he’s got it, I don’t really want it, not that there’s anything wrong with that, mind you.

On the other hand, as you point out, the name “Mattress Discounters” is just about a perfect description of what they sell, and how they sell it.

Note that “Freight Liquidators” changed its name to “Roomful Express Furniture” because so many people apparently thought they were some kind of a cargo forwarding company.

Presumably those same people were disappointed that “OfficeMax” was not where the actor who played Wojo on “Barney Miller” worked.
Webmaster (URL) - January 11, 2005



Dear God, man, did you not listen to the commercials? Tony and crew did NOT sell mattresses — they sold sleep. SLEEP!

I’ll miss seeing Tony at the Pgh. Home Show each year. Mrs. Subdivided and I always had a lunch riding on who could more accurately predict the size of Tony’s pit-sweat stains. By mid-afternoon, it was a pretty safe bet that they’d be at least halfway down to his pants.

I’ve posed this question on my blog, perhaps your more enlightened readers can supply an answer — why are there so many mattress stores these days? I counted at least 10 on about a two-mile stretch of McKnight.
Bob (URL) - January 11, 2005



If I’m not mistaken, the Sleep Mart stores DID change names, at least unofficially, to “Tony’s Got It!” (exclamation point theirs). I haven’t heard the words “Sleep Mart” used in any of their recent advertising, and in fact, the current signs above many of the stores simply read, TONY’S GOT IT! (exclamation point theirs, again)

And I almost feel sorry for AFLAC, although it’s hard to feel sorry for anyone with 90 percent name recognition. It’s always a problem when the advertising is so clever that it’s better known than the product or service.

Case in point: “Mamma Mia, that’s a spicy meatball!” One of the best-known TV commercials of the Seventies. Quick, name the product. I bet you can’t.
Alert Reader - January 12, 2005



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