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Is Saying Your Lawn & Landscape Company is "The Best" False Advertising?

11K views 36 replies 21 participants last post by  RSK Property Maintenance 
#1 ·
You have probably seen the Papa John’s Pizza ads on TV – they are everywhere.

“Better Ingredients. Better Pizza. Papa John’s.”

Is that false advertising? Pizza Hut thought so and in 1998 took Papa John’s to court and won. The court ruled they had to stop using the slogan. But Papa John’s appealed, took the lawsuit to a higher court and won – their defense was that it was not false advertising, but rather a matter of personal taste. I’m not exactly sure what that means, but nevertheless, Pizza Hut tried to take it to the Supreme Court and they weren’t interested.

So, for the past 15 years, the ads still run.

So why not make a big advertising push for your lawn and landscape company? Instead of the same old same old (professional, insured, experienced, blah, blah, blah), why not shout it out from the roof tops that you are the best?

Risky? Maybe. I mean, Papa John’s pizza doesn’t suck. I’m not sure it’s the best, but it seems to have helped them grow their business from $360 million in 1998 to $1.4 billion in 2012. Not bad.

Point is, they put themselves out there. They are willing to say they are the best. It get’s people’s attention. It makes them wonder if it really is the best. If they like it, they stick with it. On top of that, Papa John’s is not afraid to push the envelope and advertise they are the best anywhere they can.

Try it. If you mow lawns, tell people in your advertising you are the best lawn mowing company there is – period. If you provide fertilizing services, tell people their lawns will look better than ever if they choose you. If you offer lighting services, use your advertising to tell your audience that no one else but you can make their home/garden/landscape as good as you will.

Last thing… make sure you work hard to actually back up what you are saying. That should go without saying.
 
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#27 ·
Saying you are the "best" company in town does not hold any value and no it is not false advertising. Use it all you want, however, it is meaningless in today's consumers mind.

If you want to be an effective advertiser you need to use tangible statements. I.e. "we have over 200 positive reviews"! Or "we maintain over 200 residential properties".
 
#28 ·
I feel like being the best is a matter of perspective. Advertise your the best, then tell your customer why. Your cheaper, look better, show up sooner, more experienced, ect. If I don't think I'm the best choice for a company I just don't try for it. What's the point of loosing them in a month when I don't come through on my promise? Advertise it, but you darn well better believe it. If you don't think your the best option, why would they?
 
#31 ·
Well, Sean...

1. PJ didn't get sued because of BIBP.
They got sued because of a hardly ever seen TV commercial in which someone claimed Better Ingredients Better Pizza THAN Pizza Hut!
That's why they got sued, because in that commercial someone claimed it was better than Pizza Hut.
2. It's not the first time they got sued either, nor is BIBP their first slogan.
They had to take their first slogan down, the BIBP slogan is the result of the first lawsuit.

I'm guessing you didn't do all your homework but you call yourself whatever you want, so long you don't mind spending it in court.
As for myself, I'll stick to the simpler and far more humble names / slogans, but thank you for asking.
 
#32 · (Edited)
Papa John's first slogan was the "Perfect Pizza" (a slogan that became a registered company trademark).
That was the first slogan they got sued over, by nobody other than Pizza Hut.
They lost that lawsuit and had to get rid of the logos, all their T-shirts, all the store signs, everything had to come down!
New slogans, logos, shirts and store fronts, car top signs, everything had to be re-created from scratch.
I am sure this all cost them a lot of money, just one of those signs you see on a car costs around $200.
Anything and Everything that had "The Perfect Pizza" written on it had to go.

They then instituted Better Ingredients / Better Pizza, which most folks agreed was far "safer" in terms of stepping on toes.
They were right, until someone decided to compare the ingredients to competitors in a national TV commercial.
That's when they got sued, again.

They squeezed out of it that time, somehow, perhaps via a lot of butter, free pizza and kisses in a low location, I don't know.

It is of interest to note that around turn of the century Papa John's wanted to keep Pizza Hut from obtaining a trademark for the catchphrase, "The Best Pizzas Under One Roof," this was also done via legal filings.

Not sure how that turned out but it seems safe to say between those two, they've been at each other for some time now.
 
#34 ·
well I did it. I changed one of my ads to say I am the best an should be in print very soon! actually it says my company's name then under it call for "the best fall clean up" then my number in large print. the whole ad is 3x2 so hopefully it works. if not oh well. but Its going out to one town where people are always trying to keep up with the jones, and the most common car is a Mercedes, Bmw, Porsche. So people like quality in this town, So I think saying I'm the best will raise quite a few eyebrows, and hopefully get me a lot of fall clean ups! I'm hoping for 5 days a week of clean ups on my own for a few weeks. and with my pricing 100/hr solo is very possible. I already have more clean ups then last year but I don't wanna do well with fall clean ups. I wanna kill it! hell if I had enough clean ups to go 7 days a week and weather permitted I would do it! also this is my only ad in print so it tracking results will be easy. In november i'm going to renew another ad I usually run.
 
#35 ·


here's my fall clean up ad I will be running as my only advertising until the 8th of november! I already got two fall clean ups from my regular ad in this paper, totaling 900+ tax both have simple landscaping and are easy. so hopefully this ad brings in some picky customers that want an unparalleled fall clean up with extreme attention to detail, and obviously that are willing to pay for "the best"
 
#37 ·
sends him an email
lol you got me....i was thinking, why the efff would someone from michigan want me to do a fall clean up??? I get emails all the time from people who live in other states and have property here in ct in towns in do service asking for quotes for snow plowing, or lawn mowing, fall clean ups, house clean outs. they usually end up being well paying jobs. I still have a customer for snow plowing who lives in west palm beach,fl but has me plow his parents driveway a town over from me...
 
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