From Phil Edwards.
Turn your idea into a real business today! Grab 10% off Hostinger Horizons
with my code: PHILEDWARDS
https://hostinger.com/philedwards
Oh, check out my little cute website! https://clicknourishment.com/
Sources here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/142066744/
Check out @therealsamreid and The Economics of Everyday Things (https://freakonomics.com/series/everyday-things/), my two soulmates in the land of billborads.
Find me elsewhere:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/philedwardsinc/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/philedwardsinc
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/philedwardsinc
Some music by the inimitable Tom Fox via Chromatic: https://tfbeats.com/
Where I get some music (Free trial affiliate link):
https://share.epidemicsound.com/olkrqv
My camera, as of February 2022 (affiliate link):
https://amzn.to/3HDcWVz
My main lens: https://amzn.to/3IteXEK
My main light: https://amzn.to/3pjO0M8
My main light accessory: https://amzn.to/3M6eL0j
Alaska highway by: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Autopista_Taylor,_Chicken,_Alaska,_Estados_Unidos,_2017-08-28,_DD_102.jpg
Vermont Highway by:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vermont_Route_26.jpg
Maine highway by:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Maine_highway_9_heading_east.jpg
Billboards cost real money: this one is $8,000 for four weeks. Why did billboards win and can we ever get our roadsides back? I test the market, compare prices ($850, $4,850, $5,000 for four weeks), and look at Lamar Advertising—the local giant claiming the largest digital billboard footprint, with 159,000 billboards and 5,000 digital billboards playing 10-second ad slots 24/7. We talk out-of-home advertising (OOH) rates, audience reach, and how ads are “arranged to reach consumers in every walk of life” as they go about daily tasks. Keywords: billboard cost, digital billboard, Lamar Advertising, OOH, out of home ads, billboard pricing, 10-second slots, four-week flight, CPM, impressions.
From wall posters and sky-signs to standardized poster panels, the industry professionalized fast. City beautification movements pushed against sniping and illegal pasting, and companies responded by leasing sites and consolidating power. We trace the rise of the Out-of-Home Advertising Association (founded 1891), catalogs of glues and frames, the shift from dense urban foot traffic to streetcar suburbs, then highways, and the promise of “scientifically placed” panels. We measure audience patterns by hour, traffic counts, and why repetition works. Keywords: billboard history, sky signs, city beautification, standardization, OAAA 1891, streetcar suburbs, highways, audience measurement, traffic counts, frequency, repetition, advertising effectiveness.
Regulation tried to catch up. Along federal highways, sign controls, the 1958 bonus incentives, and Lady Bird Johnson’s push culminated in the Highway Beautification Act—rules, 660-foot control zones, grandfathered signs, junkyard screening, and a wave of consolidation. Some states ban off-premise billboards (Alaska, Vermont, Hawaii, Maine), but everywhere else the marketplace expands: gas stations, pharmacies, groceries, and more digital OOH surfaces. We weigh the trade: public views monetized, tax revenue arguments, and whether we can regulate the screens we live with. Keywords: Highway Beautification Act, Lady Bird Johnson, federal highway regulation, billboard bans, grandfathered signs, consolidation, digital out-of-home, roadside ads, tax revenue, regulation vs. blight.
