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Comment by neilv | Hacker News Reader

It wasn't an entirely novel idea. Around the same time, I saw a comic, something like a rock/brick tossed through a house's front window, with a note tied around it, like a stereotypical intimidation/threat. Except the note was an ad for a local window glass replacement service.

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This was from The Far Side. The image depicts a broken window and a man reading a piece of paper presumably attached to the brick, with the note "Bricks thrown thru your window? Call Al's Glass" and then a phone number.

While searching for it I found the comic appeared as homework in a marketing class, with this wonderful student asking for help explaining the underlying marketing techniques:

https://www.chegg.com/homework-help/questions-and-answers/2-...

and then before this

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parable_of_the_broken_window

The 2023 version of a brick-through-the-window, as an aside:

The note reads something like this:

BY ACCEPTING THIS BRICK THROUGH YOUR WINDOW, YOU ACCEPT IT AS IS AND AGREE TO MY DISCLAIMER OF ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, AS WELL AS DISCLAIMERS OF ALL LIABILITY, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL, THAT MAY ARISE FROM THE INSTALLATION OF THIS BRICK INTO YOUR BUILDING.

Just add a mandatory binding arbitration clause and it’s up to date.

Wasn't there a Charlie Chaplin movie with a similar premis? A child walks the street and breaks windows while a glass fixer walks a few minutes later and announces their services.

"The Kid" -- here's the scene you're referencing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izqhtBPd4VQ

The cushions were doomed from the start. It would be obvious to anyone who has ever ridden the BART that the seats should be easily cleaned with a hose.

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