Look, I have been one of the loudest proponents of the Gulf expansion. Why wouldn't I want one of the most constant and comforting aspects of my life back in Canada here with me in Abu Dhabi? But then I saw this:
Okay, it's a little hard to tell from the picture I snapped on my Blackberry while travelling down Sheikh Zayed Road toward Dubai before Christmas, but each of the three billboards that can be seen here on either side of the road are ads for Tim Hortons Cafe & Bake shop. They were among a series lining the highway. A quiet, deserted highly, lined with the same giant ad everywhere you looked. Then, to our right we saw a giant Tim Hortons warehouse, just as a Tim Hortons truck overtook us to our right.
Spoooooky.
Can this kind of wallpapering of billboards be an effective advertising tool? They were not even helpful billboards. At least the ones in Canada tell you where you can find the next Tim Hortons.
Okay, it's a little hard to tell from the picture I snapped on my Blackberry while travelling down Sheikh Zayed Road toward Dubai before Christmas, but each of the three billboards that can be seen here on either side of the road are ads for Tim Hortons Cafe & Bake shop. They were among a series lining the highway. A quiet, deserted highly, lined with the same giant ad everywhere you looked. Then, to our right we saw a giant Tim Hortons warehouse, just as a Tim Hortons truck overtook us to our right.
Spoooooky.
Can this kind of wallpapering of billboards be an effective advertising tool? They were not even helpful billboards. At least the ones in Canada tell you where you can find the next Tim Hortons.
