Business Owners Aren’t Getting the Picture on Free Video Offer

Doyle Potter thought he would uncork a magnum of comment, criticism and complaint with his offer to prepare a professional videotape of Orange County business owners’ messages to the presidential candidates.

But what seemed a sparkling idea hasn’t generated even a split’s worth of fizz and ferment.

“We must have an awful lot of apathetic people out there,” a disappointed Potter said Monday, as Day One of his offer to tape 10-minute messages to George Bush and Bill Clinton drew to a close.

Since announcing the program July 15, Potter and partner Lee Henseler, owners of Effective Visual Imagery, have booked only three of the no-cost recording sessions--and one was for a business that is quite a bit smaller than the original minimum of five full-time employees and $500,000 a year in gross sales.

Potter and Henseler have offered to use the facilities at their Irvine graphics and photography company to prepare and send to each presidential candidate and to Cable News Network cassettes of videotaped messages from owners of small businesses in and around Orange County.

Potter said he believes that the messages would have an impact--if the candidates actually popped the cassettes into their video players and viewed them on their television sets--because of the validity that is bestowed on ideas by being televised in today’s visual society.

He envisioned, if not an explosion, at least a steady stream of politically concerned business owners phoning his office at (714) 727-3111 to make appointments for taping sessions.

The dismal response hasn’t turned him off, however.

Potter said he has arranged with a number of local banks, public relations firms, investment advisers and other businesses with monthly newsletters to include a copy of his offer in their mailings in hopes of generating a few more responses.