Driving around town, I’ve been enjoying Duluth Trading Company’s billboard ad campaign. The company, which sells workwear, tools, games and other “tradesmen” goods, combines clever copy writing with simple, yet folksy images to create a look and feel that is humorous and edgy.
Example headlines include:
• “Crouch without the ouch” for a pair of pants
• “No more butt crack” (paraphrasing) for an extra-long t-shirt.
Doing some digging, I discovered that the mail-order catalog company designs and writes nearly all its own marketing in-house, led by Al Shakelford. Illustrations are by Minnesotan Rick Kollath. I wasn’t able to find any examples of the billboards online, but here’s an example of the style from their recent catalog cover:
A witty cover from Duluth Trading Company's catalog