America’s favorite highway oasis, South of the Border, is an emporium just inside the northern border of South Carolina on Route 301/501.
For 200 miles in either direction, drivers are treated to billboards featuring Pedro in a serape and a hat the size of Texas.
But as a 10 year old, I liked the puns the best–the Marx Brothers’ word play: “You never sausage a place. You’re always a weiner at Pedro’s. South of the Border. 10 miles,” and there’s a giant hot dog hanging from the billboard.
Or my favorite, the one that made me laugh so long my father asked me to knock it off: “Pedro’s weather report: Chili today, hot tomale. South of the Border. 23 miles.”
It was Looney Tunes on the road, selling what was basically a gas station and roadside diner with old-fashioned borscht-belt humor. No features and benefits. Just an attitude of fun that made you want to stop and visit.
And stop we did. We got gas and a new fan belt, except my Dad didn’t think there was anything wrong with his old fan belt. He suspected the gas station attendant, when he opened the hood to check the oil, had used a jack-knife hidden in his hand to nick the fan belt, so we were forced to buy a new one.
Who knows? Anyway, it was fun. My Dad had a skeptical streak.
Mr. Alan Schafer built the business from a 1949 root beer stand, and he built it with his goofy sense of humor. He came up with all the ads. They were corny, infantile, and effective because they promised a refuge of fun on the long drive to Florida and back.
I haven’t seen any ads like his since then, and I certainly haven’t seen any PowerPoint slides goofing around the boardrooms of America either. Too bad.
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