Screw you 3M.

[rjssigns]

Standing on the fence.... do any of you really think we're all gonna hurt 3M ??

We're like a pimple on an elephant's a$$ in this one.

While valid points I am not so delusional as to think what we are doing will have any impact whatsoever on the 3M juggernaut. I take pleasure in the fact that we are banding together, and making a stand against unethical business practices.

"The world is a dangerous place. Not because of the people who are evil; but because of the people who don't do anything about it". Albert Einstein

 

[CheapVehicleWrap]

good luck, it'll always be your fault.
trust me on that one.

Yes. Talking to 3M will get you nowhere.

 

[HulkSmash]

Standing on the fence.... do any of you really think we're all gonna hurt 3M ??

We're like a pimple on an elephant's a$$ in this one.

Go into any office supply store, any post office, any paint store or hardware store and so many other places and look around and see how many 3M products are for sale. Baby, you'll be amazed.

The sign industry could shut down tomorrow and 3M isn't gonna feel a thing. They might notice a slight turn down on their pie charts, but unless you do this collectively and make this front page news, their pocketbooks can take a far larger hit then you realize.

This has got to smack them in the face, not the bottomless pocketbooks.

You're talking like if everyone quite smoking today, the tobacco companies will go out of business tomorrow. Fraid not, folks. The cigarette portion is the smallest item in their business and they knew it for years. Why do you think they back non-smoking clinics and habits ?? They even tell you before you buy a pack, it's probably gonna kill ya. Do you care ??

Yeah, right, we're gonna stop 3M. We'll get pleasantries and lip service, but you aren't gonna hurt them.

Gino, i can give a damn whether it affects them or not. My whole point is they don't have my support or my financing. And I will keep talking until they stop competing against me. Wait until you see what shirt i wear to the SGIA.

 

[sar bossier]

How clean does the Oracal come off after a couple of years? That's one big reason I've liked the "other" brand in the past, but I have no experience with the Oracal wrap material yet. Thinking of giving it a try on my own Ford Escape, perhaps, to see how it performs.

When we opened 3 years ago, we did a partial wrap on a Tundra, with Oracal 3951, and 290 lam. Removed it 2 years later (sold the truck), and although it took some elbow grease and some heat, it came off cleanly, with no damage to the truck. LOVE the Oracal stuff ...

 

[CheapVehicleWrap]

Gino, i can give a damn whether it affects them or not. My whole point is they don't have my support or my financing. And I will keep talking until they stop competing against me. Wait until you see what shirt i wear to the SGIA.

Adam.. you know how expensive 1 off shirts can be. Perhaps making 250+ and handing them out would be more cost effective.

 

[Gino]

While valid points I am not so delusional as to think what we are doing will have any impact whatsoever on the 3M juggernaut. I take pleasure in the fact that we are banding together, and making a stand against unethical business practices.

"The world is a dangerous place. Not because of the people who are evil; but because of the people who don't do anything about it". Albert Einstein

That's precisely my point. Cutting your sales off to 3M does absolutely nothing and for the most part we probably only represent a fraction of 1% of their sales... even with the Merritt's, Colorados, and other big guns here. So why not take this whole thing further and take it to where the masses can see this so you have an even larger backing and then watch the egg run off of 3M's face.

We CAN make a difference, especially by creating a strong inner core and reaching out with stronger words and pictures as a united group and take it to ALL of the sign shops..... nation/worldwide.

It must go beyond the walls here of s101 and show everyone what we have found happening in our industry. It would/could bring in far more members as more and more start to see the validity of s101 and what we as a group can accomplish.

Not only can we hurt their image, but we can also alert all of the many customers getting crap rammed down their throats by their lousy choice of installers. Show the world what wrapping.... ahhh good wrapping can be. Not this sliced & diced cooking show they're handing out, but the real McCoy.

• Now, if we all belonged to the sign painter's gild union #947, we could really kick some serious butt.

 

[HulkSmash]

Adam.. you know how expensive 1 off shirts can be. Perhaps making 250+ and handing them out would be more cost effective.

you coming? You should come.. we need to hang out

 

[Sam I Am]

I've kept a backseat and watched this thread progress and I have a similar thought process as Gino when it comes to this. One way I see it is that it will eventually get to MMM but it will be a while IF they see any effect to this at all. First ones it'll hit will be our suppliers who'll wind up with product backing up because it isn't moving. Their only option at that point is discount the MMM product and move it. It'll still wind up being used and sold by someone at "Undercut Signz & Grafx", but the reorders to MMM from the supplier will be smaller. Carrying inventory on product that isn't moving isn't a good idea in the supply chain. However long it'll take MMM to feel it will be how quickly our suppliers turn inventory.

I do know that Oracal has seen an increase and is fully aware of this thread. Speaking with one of the Oracal reps this week it is being watched almost daily.

 

[brush1]

Gino, i can give a damn whether it affects them or not. My whole point is they don't have my support or my financing. And I will keep talking until they stop competing against me. Wait until you see what shirt i wear to the SGIA.

OOOOO!!!!! So bad I'm not going this year!!!!!!

 

[rjssigns]

As far as getting the word out I haven't seen any posts regarding Josh's website launch, and if others are doing anything outside of Signs 101.

I did inform my wife's business group about what is happening though.

 

[mnapuran]

We started on a wrap install today (we are installing only) and the material provided was all 3M. I have to say... I really HATE using that material over my regular Oracal. It just seems so flimsy, stretches too easy, leaves small imperfections in the material, doesn't air release as well, etc.

 

[JoshLoring]

As far as getting the word out I haven't seen any posts regarding Josh's website launch, and if others are doing anything outside of Signs 101.

I did inform my wife's business group about what is happening though.

Hey guys...
I really wanted to launch that site ASAP but I've been stuck dealing with website hackers the last couple of weeks. Finally narrowed it down to some computers in South Africa and the UK. Blacklisted the IP addresses from our server and been cleaning up the mess ever since.. Way behind.

Anyone want to do those 3M shirts... I'm down to print off a ton. I'll run them at cost just to sponsor it. I can bring them all out to the show or ship.

 

[Suz]

Great ideas Gino!

We CAN make a difference, especially by creating a strong inner core and reaching out with stronger words and pictures as a united group and take it to ALL of the sign shops..... nation/worldwide.

It must go beyond the walls here of s101 and show everyone what we have found happening in our industry. It would/could bring in far more members as more and more start to see the validity of s101 and what we as a group can accomplish.

 

[Suz]

"As mentioned, I am a small potato. But if we all do this, it adds up to a whole bunch-a-potatoes".


I think it is a big bag of small potatoes now!!!

LOL! Maybe a big bag of small potatoes with a potato blaster? Ha!
This may end up a potato blaster disaster for MMM if they don't make it right.

 

[CheapVehicleWrap]

What would really spruce this thread up are some more relevant tags on the bottom. Everyone can add two and they must be relevant and clean. Todays suggestions are:

Www.fordcustomgraphics.com
Www.chevroletgraphics.com
Www.minimotoringgraphics.com
Www.nissangraphics.com
Www.mitsubishigraphics.com

Be a part of something beautiful and help save the graphics industry!

 

[WeekendDirectionals]

What would really spruce this thread up are some more relevant tags on the bottom. Everyone can add two and they must be relevant and clean. Todays suggestions are:

Www.fordcustomgraphics.com
Www.chevroletgraphics.com
Www.minimotoringgraphics.com
Www.nissangraphics.com
Www.mitsubishigraphics.com

Be a part of something beautiful and help save the graphics industry!

i tried it says a tag can only be 25 characters.

at NBM in Philly many suppliers toot a horn that they use 3m product. Gino has a valid point.

I have a source that will blast out 1,000,000 emails to sign shops for $1200.

 

[rjssigns]

Hey guys...
I really wanted to launch that site ASAP but I've been stuck dealing with website hackers the last couple of weeks. Finally narrowed it down to some computers in South Africa and the UK. Blacklisted the IP addresses from our server and been cleaning up the mess ever since.. Way behind.

Thanks for the update Josh. World would be a better place without hackers. It would be interesting to see their reactions if someone messed up their chit beyond repair.

 

[TyrantDesigner]

I hear some people talking about, "oh we don't do wraps, we just letter vehicles.. and maybe throw some graphics on.."

3M Original Wraps does that too. They'll do anything.. from a simple 1 line phone number to a full wrap.

For those of you who say, "This isn't messing with my market... it's not affecting my business.... how do you know? You wouldn't because that customer 3M stole would never know about your business, because they wouldn't have the option.

This completely affects the smaller guys. Even the ones who don't do digital printing in house or even do much digitally printed graphics as a whole. When a fleet vehicle has an option of doing something all at one time, or shopping around and hoping someone has a price they like they can do out of pocket .... they are going to choose the all in one service.

The graphics industry is a giant pile of flop without 3m doing their own graphics service that could easily be included and spread out into a monthly payment. Then add on top of that you have a ton of shops that go out, but 20k-40k worth of printing equipment ... and charge next to nothing for their graphics jobs, and when they go out of business ... they leave a vacuum of cheap that no one else can fill, and an irate customer base that doesn't respect the graphics industry again. Let alone how many incompetent shops are out there that destroy a potential customers trust in a graphics shop? This business has too many pitfalls to not be affected by a manufacturer bidding on your potential jobs before you even get a chance to see what they might even want because they remove the need to shop around.

Sorry, I've already switched from 3m vinyl long ago because they couldn't offer me what I wanted for what I want to do with it ... my switch will be in the form of not using other 3m materials like their stripe off wheels, and the such, and not getting 3m control tac printed at my wholesaler. Sorry 3M, it's not me, it's you. I might be a small guy and my numbers might not matter to you, but to me ... it's worth it.

 

[JoshLoring]

Just thought of something....

All of these dealerships that are doing original graphics wraps...

What if...
All of a sudden 3M original graphics results started popping up on yelp or angieslist at all of the dealership locations with bad reviews of the quality..?

The negative effect could truly make the dealerships want to cut their loses..

Just sayin..

 

[JoshLoring]

Fred

I'd like to see on tag on this tread. Just one.

"3M Wrap reviews"