Post #726453 by AceExplorer on Fri, Aug 29, 2014 8:11 AM

Over the past month or so I have received two email ads from two different bar supply companies touting their "tiki bar" stuff. One ad featured a plain thatched bar on a beach somewhere and they pasted a "tiki bar" sign onto the front. The other ad featured a bunch of "hand painted" bar signs, one of which was a "tiki bar" sign with a big colorful macaw ala Jimmy Buffett. In each instance I wrote back to the company and explained how they were doing an injustice to real tiki by perpetuating the myth that "tiki" was synonymous with thatched roofs, parrots, and Jimmy Buffett. Today I got another email with signage for sale and - to my surprise - the tiki bar sign with the bird was missing. I'm not sure that I had any influence, but I want to encourage others to help make advertisers aware of these types of gaffes when they make them.

A simple email may or may not have an impact - but it's definitely worth trying to put tiki into proper perspective, especially for the graphic artists and designers who create the ads for advertisers.