Pat Flynn’s background is in marketing, but sometimes even he’s surprised by the ways a portable sanitation company can gain publicity. The vice president of Superior-Speedie Portable Services in Akron, Ohio, got an unusual request for his products recently, but he recognized a good opportunity to attract attention for the company.
“It was definitely the weirdest phone call I’ve ever gotten,’’ Flynn said of a movie producer requesting to borrow a portable restroom to drop on a car during filming. “I told them, ‘Keep our stickers on them and you can have two of them.’ I get some crazy calls, but that one ranks right up there.’’
The movie is called 3 Day Test, and it’s being produced by veteran television actor Corbin Bernsen (Arnie Becker from the 1980s L.A. Law). The film is a holiday tale about a father who, exasperated with the distractions caused by modern technology, takes his family off the power grid for three days so they can reconnect. According to media accounts, a restroom falling on the main character’s car at a construction site is a key scene in the movie.
This was not Flynn’s first brush with famous folks or high-profile event requests. He and Superior-Speedie partners Jeff and Shelly Grubbs have served another recent movie produced by and starring Bernsen, 25 Hill, (about the historic All-American Soap Box Derby in Akron). They’ve also provided portable sanitation for the G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh a few years ago and a local visit this year by presumptive Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
“And we just had Tom Cruise shower in one of our trailers,’’ Flynn said. While he can’t say for sure that the Top Gun and Jerry Maguire actually showered in his unit, the trailer was ordered by Paramount Pictures for one of Cruise’s movies, and the company reported it was impressed with the accommodations. “I extrapolate that to mean Tom Cruise was happy with our service,’’ Flynn joked.
The big drop
When Bernsen’s people called for the prop restrooms, Flynn prepared to deliver several older construction units that could be rotated out of the inventory. “We usually have labels on the front and back, but I put them on all four sides. If it’s going to be in a movie, what the heck, you want to be able to see your name, right?’’
If you Google the movie title and city, you can see what happened next. A PolyJohn Enterprises PJ unit was raised by a crane and then lowered onto the hood of a car. In the end, the unit wasn’t worse for the wear and Flynn said it could be refurbished and put back into service.
Being ready, willing and able to respond to a special request like this one is a small, quirky example of how Superior-Speedie has been able to grow from an inventory of 100 to 1,600 restrooms in less than a decade, even in the past few economically challenging years.
“We’ve been very fortunate and grown every year, through everything that’s been going on,’’ Flynn said. “I like to think we market well … We really don’t say ‘no’ to anybody. If someone calls for something, we do it.’’
That’s clearly the case.
RESTROOM CONTEST WINNER
In case you missed the announcement on my blog at www.promonthly.com, we had a quick winner in our first installment of the contest, “Where in the World is This Restroom?”
A few months ago, we ran several mystery photos of restrooms in PRO. I asked readers to identify the city where the photos were taken and three specific locations that were shown.
Todd Fitch came up with the answers with lightning speed, but the owner of Hanson & Fitch Temporary Site Services and Environmental Services had an advantage over most PROs. His company is located in Danville, Calif., only about 30 miles from the featured landmarks.
If you’re keeping track at home, all of the photos were taken in San Francisco, specifically on the Golden Gate Bridge, at Union Square in the heart of the downtown shopping district and along Pier 45 in Fisherman’s Wharf.
It was fun cruising San Francisco for restrooms to shoot during a visit last fall. I saw them everywhere, from Golden Gate Park to Chinatown. I walked the length of the Golden Gate Bridge on this trip, and wondered how the unit serving maintenance crews was delivered way out on the bridge’s narrow bike path. I assume it wasn’t serviced on location, because it couldn’t be accessed by any service truck I’ve seen. It would be great if anyone could share how these bridge units are placed and serviced.
Our congratulations go out to Todd! He wins a PRO T-shirt.
NEW LOCATION
Now let’s keep the contest going. Here you’ll see photos of another restroom I found while traveling a few months ago. You’ll see this restroom carries a TOI TOI label on the front, and it’s the first restroom I’ve seen in person with that mark. It’s a brand I associate with European restroom service, but this photo wasn’t taken in Europe. The company placing the unit is ADCO Portable Sanitation, which serves the Eastern U.S.
So the clues: 1. You already know it’s located in the Eastern U.S.; 2. You see a waterway in these photos, but bigger water – much bigger – is found not too far away; 3. Near this spot sits a famous statue of a woman waving a handkerchief at boaters passing by; and 4. This city is known for connections to the Girl Scouts of America, literary masterpieces and mossy appendages on towering oak trees.
To win the contest, be the first person to respond to me with the name of the city and the precise landmark where the photos were taken. The winner will receive a PRO T-shirt and recognition as a geographical whiz. Send your responses to me at editor@promonthly.com.
