Workplace signs have come a long way from the era of someone hanging up “You don’t have to be crazy to work here, but it helps” at the back of the office. The advent of social media means there is always the chance that an improvised sign at work could go viral with a huge online audience (indeed, that may be the main reason the sign has appeared in the first place).
The latest effort to do so is from a branch of Maplin in Shrewsbury. With the troubled electronics chain about to close down, staff there have put a list of answers to an unseen FAQ in the window – with the reader left to imagine the questions and conversations that have led to the list.
Closing down sign on Maplin’s in Shrewsbury - sign on the door. Good luck finding other work. Will miss you. #Shrewsbury #maplins pic.twitter.com/ss6bv3sx4y
— Simon Hunter (@SimonHunterfilm) April 29, 2018
Anyone with any retail experience will recognise the world-weary tone inherent in the answers offered, such as “The discount is already applied” and “It’s UP TO 60% off”, there is an unsaid worry behind the simple answer “Yes, we are losing our jobs”. And it is left to readers’ imaginations which question might lead to the response “Amazon, Brexit and bad management”. You suspect, however, that “you need to convert scart to HDMI” was a perennial at the Maplin counter before the news of its financial demise emerged.
But the art of writing a sign that goes viral is not without its pitfalls, as staff at Blackhorse Road underground station in London found last week during the country’s brief heatwave.
London Underground staff have a culture of handwritten signs at station entrances – started 14 years ago by customer services manager Anthony Gentles at Oval station. But the message last week suggesting commuters “dress for the body you have, not the body you want” was deemed to have overstepped the mark. After people began criticising it for “fat-shaming”, TfL intervened and had the message taken down – saying: “In this instance, the message was clearly ill-judged and it has been removed.”
It might not be worth it for TfL staff, but it might still be a risk worth taking for businesses. Whether it is the York cafe that sells a Corbyn sandwich via a chalkboard menu, or innumerable bars and cafes putting out witticisms on to the street every day, a sign can be a lightning rod for online attention. Whether that turns into commercial gain is another question.
