Around half a mile from my office is a low-velocity industrial air-moving company named Big-Ass Fans. They win awards, support the arts community, develop environmentally sensitive technology, support HVAC efficiency research, fund animal shelters, and more. They employ a bunch of people and they are growing. On Fridays, small foam donkeys start to fly around the building. Let’s just say they’re a stand-up firm, with transparency in their marketing, and I’m proud of them. They’re remarkable.
They also advertise in over sixty industrial and agricultural trade magazines, and have a unique product and corporate identity that transcends brand erosion an advertising blindness giving them huge bang for their advertising buck. They’ve been featured in the New York Times, Entrepreneur, Fast Company, Discovery Channel Canada and National Geographic Channel.
Everyone needs a hobby, we collect awards. – Big Ass Fans
They make a world class product and know a thing or two about being a purple cow. People COLLECT their advertisements, buy their stuff (all money donated to the Longhopes Donkey Shelter), blog, and swoop in to trade show tables to get stickers and other schwag. They’ve may even soon become – right along side Aeron chairs and Macintoshes – the coolest cubicle farm addition for those trendy loft-spaces in old buildings where the heating or cooling is never right.
Comments like this hit their website
You guys rock. This might be the coolest name for a company ever. How can you forget a name like BIGASSFANS!!!!!! Whoever the marketing person is, is a god. I saw your bumper sticker on a guys car leaving Target and fell on the ground laughing going is this for real…..and here I am. If you guys have any promo stuff….bumper sticks, hats, shirts whatever I will be happy to promote you. By the way if you ever need a HR Manager let me know. I would love to put on my resume that I worked for Big Ass Fans Inc…..and oh yeah “The Fridge” is the the spokesman. By far I bet this is one HELL of a fun company to work for. I wish you the best of luck in your business.
Another visitor’s comments were wondering the same thing I was.
Site Visitor Said:
Any chance you guys might diversify and take up consulting other businesses on how to get a life? I work for a $10B company, and all that money can’t seem to buy even the lightest sense of humor. (Got a lot of HR people, though)
Big Ass Fans:
Maybe your company needs all the HR people to keep the employees sane and happy with all the boring drudgery that comes along with a “non-fun” company. But take it from us, it takes hard work to be this good while having this much fun.
But I learned today that the Bluegrass Airport has rejected their request to advertise in the baggage claim area (which god knows needs some color,) and to put ceiling fans in, for FREE, in hangers, lobby, and other places that would help the airport improve HVAC efficiency and lower costs.
Why? Their NAME has “Ass” in it. A well-respected, technologically advanced, environmentally sensitive, remarkable company rejected because of the word “Ass.” Would they rather the company move to China and make these fans?
I thought it was a fluke, but then noticed the results of the Poll done on the Lexington Herald-Leader site (I’m pasting it here because you cannot reliably link to their articles) show that Herald Leader visitors think the Airport was right.
- The airport was right to reject the offer. 50%
- The airport should have accepted the offer. 32%
- The airport should have negotiated for a smaller ad, or less-prominent placement. 18%
Surely these folks simply made a knee-jerk comment without knowing what a great company this seems to be! And surely most people coming through the airport are from less prudish communities than Lexington seems to be.
But Big-Ass Fans wins anyway… One commenter on the site makes the power of their terrific name abundantly clear:
“How should Blue Grass Airport have handled Big Ass Fans’ request to advertise? They should have said, “Why spend $45,000? You can dupe the Herald-Leader into putting you on the front page for free”
LOL
photos from BigAssFans
Updates: Eventually, Big Ass Fans DID get into the Airport – with a toned down plaque.
Updates 2/18/14: Big Ass Fans profiled for their forward thinking staffing/salary program.
