malls can't smile without you, but might smile with fewer loitering teens?

[acroyear]

Mall wants Manilow music to drive out unruly teens:

WELLINGTON, New Zealand – It'll be Barry Manilow versus the mall rats. The New Zealand city of Christchurch hopes that putting the American crooner's smooth and gentle tones into the mix of music to be broadcast through the central mall district can pacify unruly teens who congregate there_ or at least convince them to go elsewhere.

"The intention is to change the environment in a positive way ... so nobody feels threatened or intimidated," Central City Business Association manager Paul Lonsdale told The Associated Press. "I did not say Barry Manilow is a weapon of mass destruction."

You can thank me for the earworms later.

Comments

[javasaurus.livejournal.com]

You may recall that a couple of years ago, some stores played with the idea of using a high-pitched white noise device. We lose the ability to hear very high pitches as we age, so it would only annoy the young loiterers.

I guess they decided that white noise sounded just like modern music to the youth of today? So they are betting that the music of yesterday will do the job!

[thatliardiego.livejournal.com]

Heh. I've been the the central mall district of Christchurch. If it is now the way it was headed when I was last there in 2002, they'd probably been taken over by goth kids and skate rats.

Manilow would work perfectly.