When I was a boy, I heard a story about a hot-dog stand owner, who would put on a clown costume, then stand on the sidewalk every day and wave motorists into his business. He was so successful he was able to send his son to college. Upon graduating , the son, now worldly and sophisticated, was embarrassed by his father’s antics.

He convinced his dad that was not the way to get customers. The father, taking the advice from his college-educated son, retired his clown costume, and stopped waving drivers into his restaurant. Over time business dropped off, and they went out of business.

Regardless if that story is true, I recall the ubiquitous TV commercials of a low-cost furniture store owner in Atlanta during the 1980s and 1990s. He sported a flowing mane of hair and a thick beard, and called himself the Wolfman. It was an apt name because he really looked the part. The ads were excruciatingly corny but exceedingly memorable. Those advertisements were widely mocked, but he was able to put aside his pride and vanity, and continue making them. He made more than 500 of them, each of which were aired thousands of times. They pulled flocks of people into his stores, and in turn he enjoyed a great deal of success.

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