This month's Truck Of The Month strikes struck the perfect balance of propriety and provocation.



It's not just Masterplumb Inc.'s service that's been turning heads these days. A new, racy image of a carefree woman in the bathtub now graces the sides and back of the company's truck, capturing about as much attention on the road as the traffic signals.

"People drive by me, honk and give the thumbs up," says Dale Cook, president of the Wichita, Kan.-based company, and winner of September's Truck Of The Month.

Before unveiling the risqué graphic this summer, Cook was tooling around town with a less suggestive silhouette adorning the vehicle. A little bored with the dated picture, Cook scoured the Web looking for something more daring.

"I never did like the little guy running around with a pipe wrench, so after a lot of thought, I came up with the idea of using graphics to get the customer's attention," Cook says.

He pulled up every indecent site the Internet had to offer, but no jackpot image. Then Cook solicited the advice of a photographer friend, who immediately helped narrow down Cook's search to three solid graphic links on the Web.

From there, Cook had the task of any man's envy: combing through pictures of women in bathtubs, trying to find the right one for his truck. After discarding 70-plus pictures as options, he arrived at the one currently decorating his truck. In Cook's opinion, it struck the perfect balance of propriety and provocation.

The idea for the pull-down Internet menu, which appears alongside the revealing photograph, developed after Cook's extensive Web search.

"I was on the Internet for so long looking for just the right picture, I thought I would incorporate a drag-down menu onto the truck as well," Cook says.

Cook's wife, Carol, is developing the company's Web site while billing and scheduling jobs that Cook and their son, Dale, cover. The drag-down menu shown on the truck will be available on the Web site when it's complete.