Auckland drivers are being left out by a plumbing company whose ‘cheeky’ design combines toilets and regulations. Alex Casey says.
Summer was on her first road trip with two children, with a toddler and a new baby in the car, when her baby started screaming in the back seat. He said: “He kept spitting on his dummy, so at every red light, I would stop and turn around to put it back in his mouth. That’s when he saw a police car in his rear view mirror. “I was getting a bit stressed about it, I didn’t think I was doing anything wrong but I thought it might look a bit silly if you couldn’t figure out what I was doing.”
When the police car was on his tail, he became very worried about the prospect of being pulled over. “I started shaking in my head how to answer: ‘There is no law, I have a baby, I just want the children to go home and one of them is screaming…'” He was preparing his speech. for about five minutes when the car stopped next to her on the robots. His eyes changed and it became clear that the yellow and blue stripes weren’t solid stripes at all, but little men sitting on toilets.
“That’s when I realized I was just looking at Honor Plans,” he laughs. “I was complaining for nothing and they just walked after me politely.”
With a fleet of seven vans, all boasting the same blue and yellow police toilet, Auckland company Polite Plumbers has made a name for itself as the most powerful prankster on our streets. “I’m glad you’re doing this story, because the times I’ve seen frickin’ vans and I’ve thought ‘Is this legal’ is crazy,” says Tina, a producer at The Spinoff who has been involved in meeting several Polite Plumbers.
Tina recalls one time when she saw a Polite Plumbers van at St Luke’s junction which she said was “proud” in nature. “You have to choose your position very wisely, and I was going to get on – safely, in the lane I was supposed to be in, but I saw this police car approaching.” He avoided changing lanes for fear of appearing careless. “The officer may think I’m doing something illegal even though it’s legal…
This is nothing new to Steve Terblanche, owner of Polite Plumbers and the company’s plumbing expert. Arriving in South Africa seven years ago, Terblanche worked in various plumbing companies while waiting for a place to live before starting his own business. “I wanted to come up with something spectacular, the kind you’ll remember,” he explains of Zoom. “You’ll forget most types of pipes in three seconds. But us? You’ll never forget us.”
He pondered the design and name of the business for a few days, before coming up with the idea of a police station/toilet. I asked myself, ‘Wouldn’t that be wise?’
Terblanche, who has no formal experience in design or marketing, quickly whipped up an image on his computer of what he wanted: a “stuttering” take on a police car line with a man kneeling on a toilet. Now this original concept design is proud to feature Terblanche’s favorite office mugs at Polite Plumbers HQ. “This is it,” he says, holding it up to the Zoom camera. “This is what I wanted it to look like.”
Yes, Terblanche had to do his research before decorating his cars to make sure he wouldn’t get arrested for impersonating a police officer. “I read all four rules to the end, to make sure we could push the limits without getting into trouble,” he says. “As soon as you put a siren there, you’re trapped. As soon as you put anything that looks like a blue light, you’re locked in.”
Strict rules also extend to its employees – their Polite Plumbers uniforms are known as non-police, and they are under strict instructions to behave according to the wheel. “Even if we get angry with the driver and point at them and take a picture, it looks like we are pulling them over,” he explains. “All my boys are quiet. They know the rules. They have to be polite at all times because everyone is looking at you – you can’t hold your nose.”
However, Terblanche says the first few trips in the car were difficult. He said: “Although I checked and saw that it was fine, at first I was scared when I saw the police. The first time he stopped by a police car, he said that any confusion on the officers’ faces turned to joy. “As soon as they saw the little kids sitting on the toilet, they were disarmed,” he laughed. “They could see it for what it was.” After that, Terblanche says he stood next to thousands of police officers, and never got in trouble.
The New Zealand police were asked to comment on the matter, and quickly responded: “Thanks for the opportunity but we don’t have any comments to add.
The amazing thing about the design, Terblanche says, is that drivers do better when Honorable Plumbers are around. “We have heard people tell their children sitting in the back seat to get down and that people fasten their seat belts, or drive slowly when we are close,” he says. “It’s a public service, you know?” Tina confirms this. “One was behind me and I was wiping so I slowed down to 50. I should have been going 55 but no, the courtesy police plumbers are here.”
Even when the police ask Treblanche to change his design, he has a plan. “First of all, I will fight against it because it is not only for them, but also for the male toilets. Second, I’ll just change it to pink. I will turn into a beautiful, bright pink and yellow.” Meanwhile, he is delighted that his unique cars have caught the attention of Auckland drivers. “I believe that advertising should be an emotional response. Some people laugh at us, which is an emotional response. Some people are angry with us, which is an emotional response. Some people fear us, which is an emotional response.”
He is also thinking long term. Terblanche said: “I always wanted to have a good reputation in the future. “The kids we pass today who say ‘Men in the toilet, flush in the toilet’ – in 20 years, those kids will have their own homes. And which plumbing company will they remember? Us.”
Tina admits that the Honorable Pulambaras are memorable, even if they cause her trouble on the streets. He said: “It makes a person smile because of the mood swings and stress he has been through.”
“I just think it’s weird that someone who works with shit is making you hate yourself.”
#acceptable #Pipeline #trucks #driving #drivers #making #mistakes #police
