Sometimes on long road trips a desperate, lonely point is reached where there is
nothing to see except for billboard after billboard after billboard. In such visually deprived environments,
billboards become the only source of cognitive activity; reading them can keep the mind active and alert and prevent
you from starring in the next release of Red Asphalt III.
There is an old adage in advertising that 50% of all ads are wasted. Every time I drive through Inyo County
on the way to Mammoth Mountain, I think this is an understatement. Naturally, I find the food ones particularly
relevant. But those touting real estate, retirement homes and Truck Driving School are indeed wasted upon a
consumer such as myself.
But now that’s about to change.
Smart Sign Media has developed a “smart” billboard that tracks the FM
frequency from passing cars and then electronically shifts the advertising message to match the demographic of a
typical listener of that station. For example, if I’m listening to a Big Band station, I am going to see
the retirement home ads. If I am listening to a station that plays a lot of 50 Cent, up pop the ads for
Cristal. Or so the theory goes. If this is indeed true, then with proper tuning in the near future, I
should be able to control my commercial environment.
Goodby tampon ads, hello Girls-Gone-Wild billboards!