FREE STUFF ALERT: Being Offended Gets You Free Cheesesteaks
Posted by breadwinner on August 10th, 2010I’m not sure you’ve noticed, but here at In This Economy, we have an obligation to report free shit.
The ad shown above is featured on a billboard at the corner of Greenville Avenue and Lovers Lane in Dallas, in a space that’s previously been graced by ads for Mini Cooper and Plucker’s Wings, among others. I don’t know how I feel about the message, honestly I’m neither here nor there, but the story behind this is just really, really weird. In June, one Mr. Tom Landis (one of the owners of Texadelphia) purchased this signage and slapped up this here ad. His motivation? Not sandwich sales, apparently. He’s just plain sick of the degenerated condition of today’s billboard advertising. From boobs to booze to sexy adult items (probably more boobs), Landis is sick of it. So his move was to place this religious message up in the sky above the Shuck ‘n Jive. And still call out his sandwich shop though. OKAY. Landis is no stranger to controversy, as he was part of the Peso-accepting publicity stunt at Pizza Patron a couple years back. Aaaannnnnnd, it gets weirder: Mr. Landis has (not surprisingly, even in the Bible Belt) gotten a number of complaints about the billboard. And he has announced that each time he receives a complaint, that the customer receives five free cheesesteaks at Texadelphia. So he’s basically inviting both lying and anger into his cheese + steak establishment. Now, I can pretend to be offended for free shit all day long. But while the whole thing is a little morally questionable, I suppose the decision to fake being irate is entirely your choice. Sort of like how it’s your choice whether or not to believe in the Big Man upstairs…
Whatever. Go become an atheist for fifteen minutes and get your free food on. I recommend the Founder’s Favorite, and don’t forget the mustard sauce.
Thanks to @tysonstuart for this little gem.
Tags: cheesesteaks, Dallas, economy, free, free stuff alert, texadelphia, tom landis
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I would have written about this, but the sign fried my brain when I saw it last week. I swore off Texadelphia, but I’ll postpone the swearing off until I get my free sandwiches.
Wait a minute.. how can Mr. Landis profess some sort of higher calling in his choice of signage if Texadelphia’s jalapenos are “from hell”, as the menu indicates? Or does the billboard imply that you must choose between god or a cheesesteak; that the two are mutually exclusive? And.. and would he suggest that one’s decision to believe or not to believe in a form of deity is in the same echelon of human decision making as whether to eat at Texadelphia or Quizno’s? Do they even have Quizno’s anymore? My head hurts and I sort of regret reading this post now. Thanks breadwinner.
You’re welcome T’tip! And nobody should go to Quiznos. Ever.