A snapshot by a Flickr user. Brilliant.
Sep 30, 2005
Billboards of New York
"Wouter Deruytter exhibits his large b+w photos of the billboards of New York at the Wessel + O'Connor Gallery . The series details the relationship between the passersby and their desires as projected in hypsersize by Madison Avenue. Online gallery."
-- Gattaca
Sep 29, 2005
Maxim Billboard Fools Vandals
When Maxim was first introduced in Russia, some citizens with an agenda began vandalizing the signage. Fine, said their agency, and designed the new billboards to look as if they already have been vandalized. The signage was left alone. The spray-painted copy in red reads: "Shame!" and "Lewdness!" The copy at the bottom reads: "A misunderstood magazine about quiet family values."
-- Russian Marketing Blog
Sep 28, 2005
Qantas Manhole Covers
I already wrote about manhole advertising, and here's another ingenious example from Publicis Frankfurt (Germany) for Qantas Airlways.
Heinz Billboard
Heinz Ketchup by Bates Red Cell, Helsingborg. Copy: "What you see is what you get. Nothing to hide since 1869." Source: Cresta Awards
Vicks Billboard
Vicks billboard in the Dominican Republic by TBWA. Copy reads: "Breath Deeper". Source: Marketing Alternatif.
Foot Spray Ad
This is not a billboard and hence off topic, but I couldn't resist. A print ad for some foot spray. Click to enlarge. Source: advertka (in Russian).
Sep 26, 2005
Advertising On Parking Stripes
Parking Stripe Advertising does exactly what it's name suggests - it turns previously unused real estate into an advertising vehicle (vehicle, get it?) using sturdy adhesive tape. Denver Post breaks the story: "Imagine stepping out of your car in a grocery store parking lot. You look down and see that Pepsi has sponsored your parking spot. As you start walking, you see the same Pepsi ad on several parking stripes along the way. By the time you get inside the store, you're really thirsty for a Pepsi. Either that or you've subliminally associated this delightfully fizzy beverage with cigarette butts, chewed wads of gum and motor-oil spills on the asphalt."
Sep 24, 2005
Billboard Targeting Dogs
Leo Burnett Frankfurt for Affinity Petcare. "The product was hidden behind the poster and its smell wafted through small holes above the dogs bowl, so that passing hounds reacted to the billboard by sniffing at the picture of the dog food."
-- Advertising/design goodness
Sep 22, 2005
Students Sells His Window As Ad Space
From a NYC Craigslist post:
"I am offering my large window overlooking the busiest area of campus for advertising space. This is a great way to reach about 5000 students on a regular basis, who have plenty of money to spend on your product. As long as it's appropriate, I will sell you my window space for however long we agree upon. Get in touch with me by email so we can talk about this more. It's a great way for me to finance my take-out food habit and for you to reach a bunch of spend-crazy kids who will learn about your product."
-- via Agenda
Sep 21, 2005
Billboard Slices Bread
What's even better than sliced bread? A billboard with rotating tiles that shows how the bread is sliced. A wonderful piece of work for Wakkere Bakker by Duval Guillaume Brussels.
-- via AdFab
Billboards React to Audience Demographics
"The billboard is listening.
In an advertising ploy right out of Steven Spielberg's "Minority Report," electronic billboards in the Bay Area and Sacramento are being equipped to profile commuters as they whiz by -- and then instantly personalize freeway ads based on the wealth and habits of those drivers." Implemented by Mobiltrak.
-- SF Gate, 2002
Earlier:
Billboard Paired With Radio
Billboards from God
God Speaks: "In 1998, an anonymous donor contacted an advertising agency with an idea for a local billboard campaign that would create a spiritual climate and get people to think about a daily relationship with a loving and relevant God. The agency came up with the idea of creating a series of quotes from God to be placed on billboards."
Billboards of the Past
A rather big collection of retro billboards at the Billboards of the Past website. Most of the stuff is actually for sale, too. This particular one for Conoco goes for $1,800.
Sep 14, 2005
Billboard Paired With Radio
"Tune your radio station to the given digits (88.3 FM, in Toronto) and you will hear the engine of the new Mustang." Brilliant.
-- Frederik Samuel
Sep 13, 2005
Boom Times Hit Billboard Industry
"Advertisers’ concerns about the fragmentation of TV audiences and the tuning out of broadcast messages have driven demand for out-of-home inventory to levels unseen since the halcyon dot-com days of the late ’90s."
-- Ad Age
-- Ad Age
World's New Longest Billboard
The paint hasn't yet dried on the UK's tallest billboard when Berlin has unveiled the world's longest one. Client: Virgin Express. Length: 1100 meters. "Headline repeats the core message over and over - you can fly from Berlin to Brussels as from 41 Euros - in between jokes to entertain the pedestrians walking by."
-- AdLand
Sep 12, 2005
Sep 11, 2005
"Be Careful" Billboard
Apparently, this social outdoor ad is Brasilian and warns not to cross in front of the bus, but that's as much detail as Marketing Alternatif has.
Sep 10, 2005
Pavement Stencils
"As part of a campaign to promote its new Elle Macpherson Intimates lingerie, Bendon stencilled slogans on pavements and roads in Wellington, Christchurch, Auckland and Dunedin. One Wellington slogan read: "I was in love with a girl once who had breasts on her back ..." followed by a web address.
But the publicity stunt displeased Wellington and Christchurch city councils, which said the advertisements breached local bylaws and had to be removed."
-- Stuff.co.nz
Here are some more pavement ads from years ago brought together by AdLand.
Sep 9, 2005
"Dirty Bitches" Billboard Pulled
"After just one day a billboard in Auckland will be taken down following a raft of complaints from the public. The ad campaign for the Auto Trader website was meant to poke fun at Auckland drivers with the slogan: "We've got rides for dirty bitches." The billboard features two dogs looking out of a car window."
-- TVNZ via Adrag
Sep 8, 2005
UK's Tallest Billboard Unveiled
"JCDecaux has unveiled the UK's tallest outdoor advertising structure, which looms seven stories high over traffic entering and leaving London via the elevated M4 motorway. The structure, which has been dubbed The JCDecaux Tower, is situated on the capital's gateway road to Heathrow airport, so that is seen by people leaving and entering the UK."
-- Brand Republic, press release
See also: World's Smallest and Largest Ads
Sep 6, 2005
Cabinet of Golden Palace's Curiosities.
Here's the list of the famous eBay-auctioned weirdness - forehead and boob billboards among them - acquired by the Golden Palace casino. Pictured above is a fried Polish dumpling with Jesus's face on it, recently auctioned for a mere $1,775.
Sep 3, 2005
Sep 2, 2005
Lexus Campaign's High Tech Billboards
Lexus is launching its new IS luxury sedan using a wide array of high-tech experiments. They are mounting a Time Square photomosaic billboard consisting of pictures people can submit through the website. They have also hired Kurt Wenner, an artist famous for his pseudo-3D street paintings (here's an earlier post on that). Finally, there will be a "full-sized hologram of the car at an interactive kiosk from which the user can rotate the car, change its color and choose to watch a 15-second driving sequence." All work done by Team One.
-- via Brand Week, Advertising Lab
