CityLife

Off to a flyer

MASS OF PUBLICITY: Flyers on Oxford Road

PICTURE the scene. You’re striding along the pavement on a night out, next destination set firmly in mind, when – BANG – you’re accosted by suspiciously confident young people thrusting gaudily coloured pieces of paper into your palm and urging you to visit their venue.

You are being flyered. Quick as a flash, out come the excuses: “I’m meeting friends/I have to go and give medicine to my rabbit/Je ne comprende pas.”

None of them work, and you find yourself engaged in an increasingly awkward altercation during which you stutter and stare at the ground, attracting the pitying glances of passers-by.

Pretty soon, incidents like this could be a thing of the past. Well, that’s if Oldham Council get their way (and if their latest idea catches on).

Consultation

In June, the council launched a consultation to decide whether or not they would move to limit the location and manner in which promoters could hand out flyers for their nights.

“This is an important piece of legislation which is aimed at ensuring that the public can walk down the street without being handed printed material every other step,” said a council representative. “Especially during the late night economy when bars and clubs are advertising their premises.

“It costs more than £2 million a year to clean our streets of dropped litter, including flyers and other rubbish."

But what do those who contribute to the late night economy think to the idea? We spoke to Alex Barbanneau from Sex With Robots.

Massive effect

“Flyering has a massive impact on a club night,” says the promoter and whizz behind electro odd-poppers Modernaire. “It's one of the best way to reach people.”

And how does Alex feel about those clubs for whom reaching people means basically chasing them along the street shouting the word ‘BORING’ at them for not accepting a flyer?

“I disagree with that,” says Barbanneau. “Flyering outside gigs is probably the most effective way to do it.

“You'll find that most club nights target people leaving events that are similar to theirs,” he adds, explaining why fans exiting dance gigs are handed flyers for electro clubs, rap gig-goers get invited to urban nights and people leaving Razorlight concerts are given special discounts at paint-drying events. 

Soggy floor

“It is annoying when people just chuck them on the ground,” he sighs. “The last thing you want to be doing at 3am in the rain is picking up flyers off the soggy floor.”

But surely none of this actually matters. In the highly modern world of social networking, promoters can bombard inboxes with breathless messages called things like ‘2-4-1 PARTYY TONITE!!!1!’, and all without getting their feet wet, incurring print costs or dropping litter. 

Barbanneau is not so sure. “There's definitely a limit to the effectiveness of online promotion,” he says. “I'd be pretty worried if proper flyers were banned.”

Flyers will be handed out all weekend on various streets around town. 9pm-12am. Free.