For many US small businesses, 2020 was not a funny – or fun – year at all. It’s hard to find any humor in a year that a pandemic caused the deaths of more than 300,000 people, destroyed jobs for more than 12 million and ruined countless restaurants and other small businesses in the fitness, arts, travel and retail industries.
But last year one small business did give us all a reason to laugh. That small business is Four Seasons Total Landscaping in, of all places, my home town of Philadelphia.
Four Seasons Total Landscaping became a worldwide story when President Trump’s campaign announced a surprise press conference – on the day the election results for Pennsylvania and other states were released – in their parking lot on State Road in the north-east section of the city. The announcement befuddled both supporters and opponents alike. The press conference – like so many others of this administration – was a confused, rambling affair. No one knew if this was actually planned or just a mix-up with the Four Seasons hotel near Broad Street. No one could figure out if Trump even knew what was happening. It happened anyway. And the whole thing was very funny.
It was funny because of the imagery: Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani fighting for his boss’s political life surrounded by other small businesses typical to State Road – a sex shop and a crematorium – and of course with the Four Seasons Total Landscaping sign prominently behind him. It was funny because it was absurd and surprising and curious. It was funny because no one admitted this was a mistake. Was it? It was funny because the incident occurred in a city where Trump had recently warned “bad things happen.” To him apparently.
But the real reason why this story was so funny is because of Marie Siravo, the owner of Four Seasons Total Landscaping. She and her team’s response to what happened wasn’t partisan. It was a perfectly American lesson in business savvy. Siravo saw the humor. She also saw the dollar signs.
Doing her best to stay out of politics she doubled down on the unprecedented exposure her small business received. Siravo immediately spruced up her website. She posted a politically astute Facebook message that any seasoned PR professional would be proud of. She sold tongue-in-cheek shirts that said “Make America Rake Again” and “Lawn and Order” and coined phrases like “in sod we trust” on other promotional items. She participated in the quickly organized “Fraud Street Run” which drew 2,100 participants and began from her parking lot. She embraced the crowds and the people who – to this day – stop by for a quick picture of political history. “We’re not making any political statements,” she told the Philadelphia Inquirer. “We’re running with this and enjoying it. It’s like a magic carpet ride.”
Four Seasons Total Landscaping…
Read More: Four Seasons Total Landscaping gave us all a lighthearted lesson in 2020 |