Humorous Pharmacy Sign Backfires

While laughter may be the best medicine, it can also have adverse effects.

Pharmacy students interested in running their own pharmacy should heed caution from the story of a poorly executed “humorous” sign posted outside a pharmacy in Greeneville, Tennessee.

Earlier this month, a store called Town and Country Pharmacy received backlash after putting up a sign that read, “Some people just need a hug…around the neck with a rope.”

The Greeneville Sun reported that the pharmacy’s sign displays a new, typically amusing saying each month. September’s sign, however, led some residents to call the paper and the local radio station to complain.

One person who called The Greeneville Sun said the sign was “strange” and inappropriate for the business.

“Basically, we do put jokes up there,” pharmacist Eva Auxier told the paper. “We do think that laughter is the best medicine, so we always try to put something light-hearted, something that would try to make someone smile or laugh.”

After both the paper and Radio Greeneville called the pharmacy for comments, it took down the sign “within minutes” of hearing concerns, Auxier said.

“We certainly wouldn’t put something up that was intended to offend any one person or be offensive or hurtful,” Auxier told The Greeneville Sun. “This sign was also intended in a humorous light.”

Auxier added that the pharmacy would try to find more “universally humorous” sayings for future months.