Sign gets us to laugh through the fears
DAN VOELPEL; THE NEWS TRIBUNE
Since last December, The News Tribune has devoted 30,675 words to the economics, corporate leadership changes, community enticements and other influences surrounding a looming decision by Russell Investments over whether to keep its world headquarters in Tacoma or move to Seattle.
I wrote 17,484 of them.
But what do all those words really mean?
Tacoma ad agency JayRay captured it in seven words on the latest holiday billboard for LeRoy Jewelers.
Next to a photograph of a Steph Farber one-of-a-kind, amber-and-diamond pendant, the handwritten-style script reads:
“Russell –
Don’t love me and leave me!”
The lone billboard with that message stands in a Pacific Avenue parking lot in the shadow of Russell’s A Street headquarters.
And it succinctly captures the civic, punch-in-the-gut zeitgeist and emotional plea of a city that could get jilted after a 72-year relationship with its most significant corporate other.
Every year before the Christmas shopping season since 1987, the masterminds at JayRay gather to brainstorm a uniquely humorous advertising campaign for Farber, the uniquely humorous owner of LeRoy Jewelers.
This year, said JayRay President Kurt Jacobson, “we were searching for something topical and that meant something in this area – Pierce County, Tacoma and especially downtown Tacoma.”
Because of the pending location decision, which Russell’s board expects to make early next year, “there was some intrigue about them leaving,” Jacobson said. “That headline popped up as if a woman said those words to her lover who was about to leave. And it applied to us here in Tacoma when it comes to Russell.”
Does it ever.
Russell has loved Tacoma.
Frank Russell started his company with a part-time assistant in 1936 in a downtown office the size of a large walk-in closet. It grew to 241 associates managing $1.3 billion in 1982 and then to more than 2,000 associates managing more than $200 billion.
During that span, Russell executives have served on many of the Tacoma area’s nonprofit boards – 23 boards at one time last year.
George Russell, the CEO who sold his family business for $1.1 billion in 1998 to Northwestern Mutual, a Milwaukee-based insurance giant, donated most of the money required to build and endow Tacoma’s Museum of Glass.
Russell’s presence contributes roughly $77 million a year in direct spending in Tacoma’s economy, according to Economic Development Board estimates.
In Pierce County, Russell’s projected direct impact on wages and income stands at $70 million a year. The company and its employees have a direct annual retail sales impact of $17.2 million countywide.
Russell’s corporate giving program contributed $3.6 million to its communities worldwide in 2006 – about $1 million of that in Pierce County, according to the latest company figures.
“We’ve heard all spring and summer that there’s a lot of hand-wringing and concern about the Russell company’s decision,” Farber said this week. “Everybody’s worried, concerned and even more worried. There’s so much anxiety in the community, and it’s well-placed. They’re a great company and good to have as neighbors.
“In part, we wanted to have a bit of a good time” with the advertisement, he said. “Nobody was actually smiling, and I think we needed to smile.”
Humorous twists have long shown up in LeRoy advertisements.
The jewelry store opened downtown in 1941 – just months before the United States got drawn into World War II. On a showroom wall in the jewelry store, Farber still has a framed advertisement of a LeRoy sale built around then co-owner Jack Slotnik, Farber’s uncle, being drafted into the military.
“The message,” Farber said, “was: ‘Hey, I’m going to war, let’s have a sale!’”
Do you remember the LeRoy billboard with an older woman holding up a pair of XXL panties next to the words, “Why buy your jewelry where you buy your underwear?”
How about this one? On the hand-drawn image of a woman’s lower face and upper torso, two jeweled earrings dangled from the lobes next to the words, “Tired of men staring at your breasts?” Pierce Transit refused to let that ad run on the sides of its buses.
When Farber’s wife, Phyllis Harrison, opened her own store, The Art Stop, in shared space with LeRoy Jewelers, the billboard campaign showed a shopping bag with both companies’ names printed on it next to the words: “Same sacks marriage.”
“Steph is such an intriguing character,” Jacobson said. “We try to get something that reflects what Steph is like – witty and twisting things to get something funny out of it.”
Happy holidays, everyone. Enjoy the wittiness while you can. And smile for a while. If Russell Investments decides to jilt Tacoma, despite our pleas, we will have plenty of time for more hand-wringing later.
Dan Voelpel: 253-597-8785
dan.voelpel@thenewstribune.com">
dan.voelpel@thenewstribune.com
