The four sequential small signs (Are you sleepy? / Want a bed? / Solid comfort / Straight ahead) leading Tom towards the bedroom reference the then-contemporary advertising of Burma-Shave, an American brand of shaving cream. Burma-Shave advertised their product in sequences of four or five related slogans on separate small roadside signs in the middle of the 20th century and were pioneers in campaigning against drinking and driving using a similar format.