Kicker: Better business banter

1-2-3-4, I declare a pun war!

Restaurants in a little beach town in North Carolina are going at it, and marquee letter signs are the battlefield.

Clarke Merrell has a little burrito shop called “Dank’s.” He started the whole thing.

He got tired of a competitor’s stale marquee saying Iaonni’s Grill and Bar had been wishing the same guy “happy birthday” for about a month. It’s getting old, man! Audio from WRAL News.

CLARKE MERRELL: And, you know, I put up “Ioanni’s quit being lazy, change your sign.”

Well, well, well. At Ioanni’s, Sam Turnage was not about to turnage the other cheek:

SAM TURNAGE: I responded with, “We're not lazy, we're just busier than you.”

Diplomacy was attempted. Eastman’s Carpets offered, “Can’t y’all just sweep it under the rug?”

Then, blessed were the peacemakers at Parkview Baptist who chimed in with “You should get down on Ioannis and Dank God for forgiveness.”

Get it? Dank’s Burrito. You know, give Danks.

Well, there’s no cease-fire in sight. Evidently more than 70 businesses have gotten in on the adverteasing.

Sam Turnage under the sign at Ioanni’s in Morehead, N.C. Photo used with permission from Sam Turnage

And as for Ioanni’s, well, they just love the smell of changeable block letters in the morning.

TURNAGE: I'm gonna keep it going as long as I can.

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