Benches Serve Sweet Put-On

An odd advertisement has popped up on some 900 bus benches around Los Angeles and Orange counties. “Love Handles,” it says. “Fat food to go. (Not available anywhere).” There is an accompanying photograph of a piece of chocolate cake with a plastic handle on top.

No, “Love Handles” aren’t an underground product aimed at countering the diet fad. They aren’t a convenient way of carrying around a snack, either.

In fact, “Love Handles” don’t exist. The ad is part of a market research survey being conducted by a company that owns some 14,000 benches in Southern California.

Coast United Advertising is trying to determine how many people actually notice what’s written on bus benches. The company tried to create a fanciful, flippant product that wouldn’t be confused with anything else.

The advertisements were posted two weeks ago, and researchers have been asking people on the street if they have seen them. The company hopes to use the responses to attract new business.

There isn’t any address or phone number listed on the ad, but Coast United’s phone number is printed on its bus benches, so the “Love Handles” campaign has generated an unforeseen response.

“We’ve been getting phone calls,” said Arlan Renfro, the company’s president. “People are saying ‘What’s this all about?’ ”