Arts Dear Sudden Printing: Let’s Do It In The Road!
After I reported Sudden Printing’s refusal to print posters for Members Only last week, I received this email response from SP President Rod Bristol:
My position is as follows: We have been a quiet, polite, behind the scenes supporter of the Seattle music business for many years. We have printed literally thousands of posters for the Showbox, Chop Suey, Poster Giant, Poster Midget, Obese Productions, and several other independent producers and bands, including the one that my son plays in. We offer good prices, quick turnaround, free delivery and I extend credit terms past the point of good business sense at times. I have several stores and I am not in every store every day so I cannot say for sure that company policy is always followed, but the policy is to not print posters with inappropriate four letter words in the text. I apologize if we have printed such material in the past without my knowledge. However, it is my goal to not print such material. The graphic artists who create the posters we print do a terrific job and rarely resort to four letter words to communicate their message. The poster designs are edgy and creative and push the bar on how to capture a ‘look’ with a one color printing project. We enjoy doing them. Finally, I apologize for offending Ms. Finstad. I should have called personally instead of using email to communicate with her regarding her project and will do so in the future if such an issue happens again. Sincerely, Rod Bristol President Sudden Printing, Inc.
A few initial thoughts:
1) I wonder what band his son plays in and whether he agrees with his father’s policies. Rod Jr., if you’re out there, I’d love to hear from you.
2) Did he look at the poster design for more than 10 seconds? The only message that “DJ Fucking in the Streets” sends is that “DJ Fucking in the Streets” is spinning that night. Granted, it’s a provocative moniker, but it’s a DJ name, nonetheless—not an actual endorsement of public fornication.
3) Does he really think he’ll have to call Finstad in the future when she’s already said she’s taking her business elsewhere? Too little, too late, Mr. Bristol.
i think you're being kind of an asshole to him. you speak about him such disdain, one would think that he was walking around ripping down the posters, or that he was a conservative nutjob. he obviously cares a lot about what he does and that he has tried to have a consistent policy.
the whole thing seems like a non-issue being blown out of proportion.