Billboard facts for kids
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A billboard is a giant outdoor sign used for advertising. You have probably seen them along busy roads and highways. Companies use billboards to show their advertisements to lots of people, especially drivers and passengers in cars.
These huge signs are designed to grab your attention. They are often placed in areas with a lot of traffic so that many people see them. The goal is to build brand recognition or tell people about a new product. The biggest billboards are usually found on major highways, where they can be seen by thousands of people every day.
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How Do Billboards Work?
Billboard ads need to be understood in just a few seconds. After all, people are usually moving past them quickly in a car! Because of this, billboard designs are simple but powerful. They often use:
- Only a few words in big, easy-to-read letters.
- Bright, eye-catching colors.
- A funny or interesting picture.
The idea is to create a memorable impression that makes you think about the ad even after you have passed it.
Sometimes, billboard designs get extra creative. You might see parts of the ad that seem to pop out of the sign in 3D or hang off the edges. For example, the fast-food chain Chick-fil-A once had billboards with 3D cows that looked like they were painting the sign themselves!
Some billboards have even used smells. In 2010, a grocery store in North Carolina put up a "scented billboard." It smelled like black pepper and charcoal to make people think of a delicious grilled steak.
What Are the Different Kinds of Billboards?
Painted Billboards
Long ago, most billboards were painted by hand in large art studios. Artists would project an image onto paper panels and then paint the design with oil paints. Once the panels were put up, the artists would climb up to add the finishing touches. You can still see some of these hand-painted billboards today, especially in places like the "Sunset Strip" in Los Angeles, where they often advertise new movies or music albums.
Digital Billboards
A digital billboard is like a giant computer screen. It can show many different images and text that change throughout the day. This allows several companies to share the same billboard. These signs can even be updated in real-time from a computer. Some modern digital billboards can even create amazing 3D effects that look like they are coming right out of the screen.
Mobile Billboards
A mobile billboard is an ad on the move! These signs are placed on trucks, trailers, or even bicycles. Unlike a regular billboard, a mobile one can travel to where the crowds are. You might see them near sports stadiums, concert halls, or train stations. Because they move around, they are hard to ignore and can be very effective at getting a message seen.
Other Cool Designs
Billboards come in many other shapes and sizes. Some are three-sided, allowing them to show three different ads that rotate. Others are built to be multi-purpose. For example, a billboard structure might also hold a telecommunications antenna or streetlights. And in famous places like Piccadilly Circus in London, you can see huge, curved billboards that light up the whole area.
Where Do You See Billboards?
Along Highways
Highways are one of the most common places to find billboards. Drivers often don't have much else to look at, so a big, colorful sign can really stand out. Billboards on highways often help travelers find hotels, restaurants, and gas stations.
A famous example from the past was the Burma-Shave company. From 1925 to 1963, they placed a series of small signs in a row along the highway. Each sign had one line of a short poem, and drivers would read them one by one to get to the punchline at the end. One of their rhymes is now in a museum:
Shaving brushes
You'll soon see 'em
On a shelf
In some museum
Burma-Shave
In Big Cities
In crowded cities where there isn't much open space, billboards are often placed on the sides of buildings. New York City's Times Square is famous for its dazzling display of digital billboards that cover entire buildings. Artists sometimes use the building's features, like windows, as part of the ad's design.
Rules and Debates About Billboards
Not everyone is a fan of billboards. There are ongoing discussions about their impact on safety and the environment.
Are They Good for the Environment?
Some groups, like Scenic America, argue that billboards create "visual pollution." They believe that too many bright, flashy signs can ruin a beautiful natural landscape. The poet Ogden Nash once wrote a funny parody of the famous poem Trees:
I think that I shall never see
A billboard lovely as a tree
Indeed, unless the billboards fall
I'll never see a tree at all.
Because of these concerns, some cities have taken action. Before the 2004 Summer Olympics, the city of Athens, Greece, removed most of the billboards from its rooftops to beautify the city. In 2007, the city of São Paulo, Brazil, banned most outdoor advertising, including billboards.
Are They Safe for Drivers?
Another concern is that billboards might distract drivers and cause accidents. Some studies have suggested that digital billboards, which have changing images, could be particularly distracting. Because of this, many places have laws about where billboards can be placed. In the U.S., a law passed in 1971 tried to ban billboards in San Diego for traffic safety reasons, but the case went all the way to the Supreme Court.
Laws for Billboards
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In the 1960s, Lady Bird Johnson, the wife of U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson, was concerned about the growing number of billboards along America's highways. Her work led to the Highway Beautification Act of 1965. This law helps control the size, lighting, and spacing of billboards on major roads.
Today, four U.S. states—Vermont, Alaska, Hawaii, and Maine—have banned billboards completely to protect their natural scenery. Other countries and cities around the world also have their own rules to control outdoor advertising.
What Are Billboards Used For?
Helping Local Businesses
For small towns, billboards can be very important. They help guide travelers to local shops and restaurants they might not know about otherwise. A great example is Wall Drug in South Dakota. In 1936, it started putting up signs offering "free ice water" to tired travelers. The signs were so successful that they turned the small drugstore into a huge tourist attraction that still brings in thousands of visitors a day.
Advertising Big Brands
Of course, billboards are also used by some of the biggest companies in the world. In cities, you will see ads for companies like McDonald's and Apple, as well as for new movies, cars, and phone companies.
Changing Rules for Advertising
A long time ago, billboards were used to advertise many things, including products like cigarettes. Over time, people learned more about health. New rules were created to stop advertising for products that were not healthy for people. In 1971, these ads were banned from TV and radio in the United States. This meant billboards became one of the main places these ads were still seen.
In 1999, a major change happened. All cigarette billboards were taken down. They were replaced with clever ads that encouraged people to be healthy and avoid smoking.
Spreading Ideas and Messages
Not all billboards are for selling things. Government agencies and non-profit groups use them to share important public service announcements. For example, you might see a billboard reminding you to wear a seatbelt or to not start forest fires.
There have also been creative campaigns just to spread a positive message. One famous campaign featured billboards with simple messages signed by "God," such as "Don't make me come down there" and "Tell the children that I love them." The goal was simply to get people thinking.
A Quick History of Billboards
The idea of outdoor advertising has been around for a long time. In the late 1400s, people posted simple flyers in European cities. But the modern billboard really started to take off with the invention of lithography in 1796, which allowed posters to be printed in large numbers.
In the 1800s, billboards became popular for advertising circuses and traveling shows. The world's first 24-sheet billboard was shown at the Paris Exposition in 1889. When the Model T car was introduced in 1908, more people began traveling on highways. This made roadside billboards a powerful new way to reach customers.
Over the 20th century, billboards became bigger, brighter, and more creative, leading to the digital and 3D signs we see today.
Notable examples
- Hollywood Sign
- The Citgo Sign, Kenmore Square, Boston
- Coca-Cola billboard in Kings Cross, Sydney, Australia
- Coca-Cola sign
- Monarch advertising sign
- Osborne bull figures in Spain
- Paddy Power Cleeve Hill Sign
- Piccadilly Circus illuminated signs
- Valdivieso advertising sign
Related Pages
See also
In Spanish: Valla publicitaria para niños
- Advertising column
- Billboard hacking
- Human billboard
