Advertising Billboards Seem To Be a Lost Art Form

The other day, I was driving down the freeway when I saw two advertising billboards that were pushing technology products. I wondered why I was so impressed by the advertisements, when it occurred to me that I rarely see them anymore. I am not sure why it is, but it seems that advertising billboards are a lost art form.

I had the very good fortune to ride along with my father on his mail route when I was a young boy, and it was a very bucolic area to which my father delivered mail, and we would often drive for miles down the highway without seeing a home or business. One thing we would see were advertising billboards that pushed everything from chewing gum to cigarettes to fireworks.

I remember looking down at my father's half-smoked pack of Marlboros at the same time we saw a billboard with the Marlboro Man on it, and I looked up and said, “hey Dad, that's the kind of cigarettes that you smoke.” Little did I know at the time why billboards like that existed, nor did I make the connection between my father's choice of cigarette and the advertising billboard. I just thought it was an amazing coincidence.

I saw another billboard for Skittles on the way to a little town called Christoval in central Texas. I asked my father if I could get some Skittles at the next convenience store we visited. He asked me what made me think of Skittles, and I said I didn't know. He just laughed, and the next time we stopped he got me some Skittles.

I have always felt that advertising billboards were a good way to bring in customers, but I have noticed fewer and fewer as I drive these days. I have tried to figure out why that is, and I have come to a couple of conclusions.

First, there are so many other ways to advertise these days that people just might not even think about using advertising billboards as an overhead medium. I know that I still see billboards for fast food places and gas stations, but that is pretty much it.

I also think that maybe a lot of companies view advertising billboards as a bit old-fashioned. I know they were pretty popular 25 years ago or so, and maybe they are still popular in other parts of the country, but they are rare in my neck of the woods.

Whatever the reason is, advertising billboards seem to be a lost art form, and I think that is really sad. For me, they are not only an excellent marketing tool, but also a part of my childhood that I look back upon with great fondness.