[Rear View] A New Take on Monster Trucks

Zombies have been rolling through the streets of Kernersville, N.C., since mid-January. And Patrick Walsh couldn’t be happier, given that the zombies in question are artistic renditions on the side of one of his bug trucks.

Walsh, director of operations for VanWal Pest Elimination in Kernersville, N.C., took inspiration for the attention-grabbing truck wrap from “The Walking Dead,” one of his favorite TV shows.

“We kill bugs for a living. We can’t take things too seriously,” said Walsh, whose company grosses about $1 million annually serving restaurants and other commercial customers in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.

Michele Walsh, president of VanWal Pest Elimination, questioned the wisdom of her husband’s idea to plaster flesh-eating monsters onto the side of a company truck. She “almost fell over” when she saw the truck in all its gory glory pull into the parking lot the first time. Then she braced herself for a barrage of outraged phone calls from citizens complaining about the graphic graphics.

The calls never came. Rather than complain, people of all ages embraced the zombie truck — literally. Locals stop the VanWal driver so they can photograph the truck or pose alongside it. Many ham it up, pretending a zombie is grabbing them or that they are fending off a flesh-eater.

“Everything we’ve heard has been totally positive. I was expecting some negative comments — but we have had none,” Walsh said. “And I get such an ‘I told you so’ for my wife.”

Walsh worked with the staff at Beeson Sign Co. in Kernersville, N.C., to bring the zombies to life via a standard truck wrap. After bouncing ideas around for a couple of days, the sign shop’s in-house graphics designer used stock art elements plus Walsh’s cheeky slogan — “From Ants to Zombies: We Eliminate Them. Guaranteed.” — to render the final design.

The artist needed about two weeks to complete the design because it is so detailed. “You can actually see the mortar between the bricks on the walls,” Walsh said.

The zombie wrap, including custom design work, cost just over $1,000, Walsh said. He figures it was a bargain considering that a typical truck wrap consisting of a logo, company name and phone number might cost $500.
 

An Eye-Catching Fleet.

While unique, the zombie truck is not the only eye-catching vehicle in the fleet. The company started putting humorous wraps on its service trucks in 2010. That’s when James, Walsh’s 5-year-old son, asked his dad if they could put a picture of a pirate on a truck.

“So we did a pirate. Then we did a T. rex, then a shark, then Thor. Most of the designs have come from [James’] ideas and suggestions. Now he’s our vice president of vehicle marketing design,” Walsh said.

Today, most of the company’s 13 vehicles have themed wraps, such as:

• T. rex: “Make your pest problems extinct.”
• Fighter jet: “Make your business a no-fly zone.”
• A bunch of cockroaches: “Adios Cucarachas.”
• Bugs playing poker: “Put an end to their game.”

Walsh hopes to roll out three additional service trucks this year — with similarly distinctive themes. “So far, every truck has topped the one before. But I’m not sure how I can top the zombie truck. It will be tough to beat,” he said. Walsh readily admits that zombies, pirates and dinosaurs have nothing to do with pest control — especially commercial pest control. “When you take them all together, though, they convey the impression that our company is different,” he said.

However, he added, “We didn’t do it to generate business so much as to generate morale. The wraps are more for us, me and my son, and the employees than for other people.” In that regard, the wraps have been an unqualified success. One, they have instilled a new sense of pride among the company’s 14 employees. “Our technicians enjoy it. One tech drives the shark truck. She won’t drive any other truck, and she won’t let anyone else drive the shark truck,” Walsh said.

Two, the wraps have given Walsh’s son a chance to make a meaningful contribution to his family’s business. Now an 8-year-old first grader, James grinned from ear to ear the day his parents brought their Thor and T. rex trucks to school for a program celebrating parents’ jobs.

Besides, Walsh said, “Just in case there’s a zombie apocalypse, we are ready!”
 

— Karen Long MacLeod, a Chicago-based freelancer