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Mr. 'Nice' Guy

The South Tampa man behind a three-word slogan says his mission is far broader than fattening his bank account.

By RICK GERSHMAN
Published June 3, 2005

SOUTH TAMPA - Just Be Nice.

Sound familiar? Maybe you've seen those three simple words on car bumpers here in Tampa or elsewhere.

Maybe you thought: Well, that's nice. It's like the proactive version of that bumper sticker classic "Mean People Suck."

Tampa native George Mason has nothing to do with the latter but everything to do with the former. He thinks there's incredible power in those three words and has dedicated his life to communicating the message to the world.

Those three words came to him from a man in a dream about eight years ago. Then, it seemed to the printing executive like a perfect corporate slogan, maybe the next "Just do it."

In fact, once he learned the phrase had not been trademarked, he planned to do so and try to sell it to Nike for a bundle.

But that, Mason says, was the "old George."

Today, at 59, he's the "authentic George." He doesn't care whether marketing "Just be nice" on his Web site and through other forums ever makes a penny, he says.

"I don't need money," Mason says. "I just want to get the message out. It's incredible how much power there is in those three words.

"This is an act of love. If it makes money, great. If it doesn't, great. I just surrender to it. I'm just a guide."

His voice breaks, as it does a dozen times during the interview. He's getting choked up again, and he's on the verge of tears.

These days, Mason thinks the man in his dream was an angel. He thinks he was picked by a higher power, in part because of his marketing ability, to share a singular message with the world:

Just be nice.

Mason realizes some people will think his mantra is a load of manure.

"If someone can't stand it, I'm not going to try to sell them on it," he says. "But you never know when you affect somebody who needs it. It blows me away how simple it is but how powerful it is."

Mason - no relation to the identically named Fairfax, Va., university - says he was affected in a big way. He got the trademark in 2000, but the "old George" didn't know what to do with it. He already was financially successful, but he was miserable.

"Now I know happiness doesn't come from material possessions," says Mason, who lives in South Tampa. "Happiness is wanting everything you have."

He got the point, he says, after another angel visited him in a second dream. On his path to becoming the real George, Mason gave up the heavy drinking that had become a problem. He lost weight, got in shape. He sold his fancy cars and now drives a bright green Volkswagen Beetle, from which he's known to flash the peace sign.

Mason remains the CEO of Creative Products, his printing business, but hasn't walked through the front door in two years. He's on good terms with his ex-wife, the mother of his two adult daughters: "We communicate more now than we did the last 10 years of our marriage."

And good luck getting him into a business suit again. Instead he's relaxing in jeans, modeling Just Be Nice T-shirts on his Web site, handing out JBN stickers to people he meets and talking about everyone's being tied to a "collective consciousness."

He supports several charities, including some in Haiti, Peru and India, where he also spreads his message. He sells a handful of JBN products each month through his Web site, www.justbenice.com and mails them from his home on Morrison Avenue. He has no full-time employees.

"I will never build a company to sell these shirts," Mason said. "I don't want to do that again. I just want to keep it simple. And I don't want to see (the slogan) everywhere. For me, it's a spark. I see it once and I'm good for two or three days."

Still, one's cynical side can't help but wonder whether "spreading the message" isn't also a perfect way to market your trademark. Technically, Just Be Nice is a for-profit venture, after all.

Mason says he briefly considered making JBN a nonprofit but determined that the regulations and expenses were too great.

The Just Be Nice merchandise features just those three words and a smiley face. It doesn't have the .com suffix that would push people to the Web site. The address is on the stickers, mind you, but in such fine print it's invisible except upon close inspection.

One exception is a series of 20 bus benches in Tampa Bay that feature justbenice.com, including one outside the post office at Tampa International Airport. Mason thinks it's the perfect place for his message because going to the post office can be a stressful experience. Plenty of people likely saw it as they mailed their tax returns April 15.

The advertising space was donated, and he did not see the final art before it came out, he says. While he greatly appreciates the donation, he vows to ensure that any future endeavors do not feature the .com.

"So far I've put $20,000 of my own money into this," Mason says. "And if Nike came to me today, I wouldn't sell it."

So what makes the phrase "Just Be Nice" so powerful that Mason thinks it can change the world? Is it religious? Is it political? Is it going to stop North Korea from making nuclear weapons? End genocide in the Sudan? Stop Hilary Duff from making another movie?

"This is like the atomic bomb of niceness," Mason says. "What I love about Just Be Nice is its elusiveness. People see the stickers and they try to make something from it. But it has no political affiliation. It has no religious affiliation."

However, it "definitely comes from a higher power," Mason says: "It's Jesus, it's Buddha, Krishna, Mohammed, even Mary. It's a huge collective message. Just Be Nice is whatever you want it to be. I know the message is a collective consciousness. And it is making a difference."

Mason expects Just Be Nice to get bigger, though he says, "I can't control Just Be Nice - it's uncontrollable. I'm just the mouthpiece." Still, he's doing his part, working to upgrade his results in search engines, expanding the apparel line and looking to get Just Be Nice into stores.

"Symbolically, it's everywhere in the world," he says. "I'm telling you, it's a vibration - you don't have to see it to get it. It's got the potential to heal the world."

[Last modified June 2, 2005, 08:00:13]