America\u2019s favorite highway oasis, South of the Border<\/a>, is an emporium just inside the northern border of South Carolina on Route 301\/501.<\/p>\n

For 200 miles in either direction, drivers are treated to billboards featuring Pedro in a serape and a hat the size of Texas.<\/p>\n

But as a 10 year old, I liked the puns the best–the Marx Brothers’ word play:\u00a0 \u201cYou never sausage a place. You\u2019re always a weiner at Pedro\u2019s.\u00a0 South of the Border.\u00a0 10 miles,\u201d and there\u2019s a giant hot dog hanging from the billboard.<\/p>\n

Or my favorite, the one that made me laugh so long my father asked me to knock it off:\u00a0 \u201cPedro\u2019s weather report:\u00a0 Chili today, hot tomale. South of the Border.\u00a0 23 miles.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was Looney Tunes on the road, selling<\/a> what was basically a gas station and roadside diner with old-fashioned borscht-belt humor.\u00a0 No features and benefits.\u00a0 Just an attitude of fun that made you want to stop and visit.<\/p>\n

And stop we did.\u00a0 We got gas and a new fan belt, except my Dad didn\u2019t think there was anything wrong with his old fan belt.\u00a0 He suspected the gas station attendant, when he opened the hood to check the oil,\u00a0 had used a jack-knife hidden in his hand to nick the fan belt, so we were forced to buy a new one.<\/p>\n

Who knows?\u00a0 Anyway, it was fun.\u00a0 My Dad had a skeptical streak.<\/p>\n

Mr. Alan Schafer built the business from a 1949 root beer stand, and he built it with his goofy sense of humor.\u00a0 He came up with all the ads.\u00a0\u00a0 They were corny, infantile, and effective because they promised a refuge of fun on the long drive to Florida and back.<\/p>\n

I haven\u2019t seen any ads like his since then, and I certainly haven\u2019t seen any PowerPoint slides goofing around the boardrooms of America either.\u00a0 Too bad.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sims Wyeth & Co.<\/em><\/a>\u00a0provides\u00a0<\/em>public speaking courses<\/em>,\u00a0<\/em>executive speech coaching<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0<\/em>presentation skills training<\/em>,\u00a0<\/em>voice and speech training<\/em>,\u00a0<\/em>speech writing<\/em><\/a>, and courses that address stage fright, body language, presentation strategy, and effective use of PowerPoint, all of which contribute to greater executive presence and personal impact.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

America\u2019s favorite highway oasis, South of the Border, is an emporium just inside the northern border of South Carolina on Route 301\/501. For 200 miles in either direction, drivers are treated to billboards featuring Pedro in a serape and a hat the size of Texas. But as a 10 year old, I liked the puns… Read More »No goofing around with PowerPoint<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","_ti_tpc_template_sync":false,"_ti_tpc_template_id":""},"categories":[336,24,149],"tags":[603,297,904,906],"yoast_head":"\n