Toilet humour works for Lanes

Less than two years after opening our depot in Pontyclun, Cardiff, Lanes for Drains celebrated its success to date with a graphic display of human waste on the city’s buses.

But this was no dirty protest. The images formed part of a major advertising campaign run by the UK’s largest independent drainage specialist, aimed at getting people in Cardiff talking.

And with pictures showing the horrors of blocked drains — including the face of a boy covered in poo, and a shot of the nasty stuff complete with floating bits — they were certainly hard to ignore.

Marketing manager, Michelle Ringland, says that’s why the campaign had the desired effect: “Our aim was to get noticed, and it worked. It was hard not to squirm when you saw the pictures — especially if you were sitting in a traffic jam staring at them!

“We had loads of extra calls because people had seen the advertisements and, more importantly, remembered them. It’s a case of ‘waste’ not, want not. We managed to use sewage in our marketing campaign and come up smelling of roses!”

Only at Lanes!