What’s kitschy, glitzy and promoted by 175 giant billboards for hundreds of miles along Interstate 95? Billboards like the one with a huge sausage that reads: “You never sausage a place! (You’re always a wiener at Pedro’s!)”. Every redneck in North and South Carolina ears just stood straight up!
Yep, South of the Border, in Dillon, S.C., a 350-acre roadside attraction with shops, restaurants, and some really odd concrete statues, including a collection of iconic Pedros, the extravagantly stereotypical Mexican bandito cartoon mascot. It’s highway Americana at its best, and if you’re driving I-95, you can’t miss it. But just to make sure, the billboards appear from the Virginia-North Carolina border to the South Carolina-Georgia border.
As intriguing as it sounds, South of the Border is not generally thought of as a destination by itself. Millions of people have stopped there for food, gas, bathroom breaks or just to air the kids out. And millions of others have passed right by, wide-eyed and shaking their heads in wonder. A $40 million enterprise not a destination? No, for you see, once you’ve gone there once, you’ll most likely never go back! It’s cheesy, cheap, and awkward all at the same time, and no one has reason or desire ever to return. Despite the bookoos of money spent on advertisement, Pedro can only get “first time” business.
I have learned something from Pedro…
Though his product may be good, his presentation is cheap!
Presentation is paramount!
You apply. Personal? Business? Church?
I’m just wondering (this could be dangerous; hold on), what could happen if we all really paid specific detail to the quality of our presentation. Not our product… the presentation. As Christians, we know who and what we represent (our product), and know that it doesn’t get any better than Jesus Christ and a Life in Him, but how is our presentation of Him to others?
Just like Ol’ Pedro at South of the Border, we spend thousands of dollars in “First Class” advertisement like websites, banners, touchpoint cards, billboards, etc… We got to make it count!
Our Guest is Priority! Our Presentation is Paramount… In our smiles… in our appearance… in our welcome... in our worship… in our preaching… in our altars… in our bible studies… in our fellowship… in everything! First class… all the time.
