Constructed from GE Lexan EXL semi-transparent resin, the Ford Mustang billboard accurately blurs the scene behind it regardless of day, weather, or season. upadte 01/16/2007 “I did this ad with Annie Williams (art director) during my first year at Miami Ad School. Just to answer some speculation, this ad was never presented at an agency, it was simply a class assignment.” { Ian Hart }

{ panther house, Manhattan billboard, 2003 }

{ Louis Vuitton billboard, Manhattan, 2003 }

{ panther house, Santa Monica blvd billboard, 2001 }

A billboard created for a campaign to fight wildfires in Colorado, by Cultivator, an advertising company based in Denver, CO. Poster had been printed, hand charred, and cut by hand.

{ Funeral Services ad }

Digital Billboard Up Ahead: New-Wave Sign or Hazard?

Billboard companies are adopting digital technology that rotates advertiser images every six or eight seconds — the better to catch the eye. The new billboards look like television screens, although the images do not move.

The problem, safety experts say, is that the new billboards may work too well, adding yet another distraction for drivers.

There are currently about 400 digital signs across the country. But within 10 years, about 4,000 billboards may be converted, according to the Outdoor Advertising Association of America.

The technology has excited both billboard companies, which can generate three to five times more money from the digital signs, and advertisers. { New York Times }

+ { Digital billboards maps — allowed/not allowed }

Trash billboard made with tons of shit found on a beach { Surfrider Foundation }

{ Bic Razor ad }

{ Times Sq. Ads Spread Via Tourists’ Cameras } Advertisers have long been drawn to Times Square as a valuable place to reach consumers, paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for space on billboards and blazing video screens.

But recently they have discovered that down on the ground, new technology has given low cost, face-to-face marketing campaigns something of a cutting edge as consumers spread their messages on the Internet. (…)

On sites like YouTube, Flickr and MySpace, an army of tourists and residents are spreading advertisers’ messages well beyond Manhattan, using their cell phones and video cameras as they walk through the marketing crossroads of the world. (…)

Experiential marketing, as the ad industry calls such campaigns, is intended to give people something they can tryout and photograph. Companies are holding such events in cities around the world, but advertisers said Times Square was unparalleled in its reach. People around the world recognize Times Square in photos and videos online and are more likely to view them, marketers said.

{ Linda Evangelista | The Purple Rose of Cairo Syndrome }

{ Jeff Koons, Made in Heaven, 1989 | Lithograph billboard }

{ Outdoor campaign for Groupe E, a Swiss provider of electricity }

{ Christoph Steinbrener & Rainer Dempf, DELETE!, 2005 | Wooster }

“The empty billboards are arguably uglier than the ads themselves” { Sao Paulo empty billboards | via BMA }

“60 days of daylight for apartment 6F. Smithwick’s is bringing the luck of the Irish to NYC.” { Smithwick’s ale billboard }

{ Transparent Billboard for DIY Stamps in Estonia }

{ Friskies bird food }

{ Adidas Human Billboard | Enlarge }

{ Billboard + fake poop | Ad for the Oudry Exhibition. Witness the 18th century’s greatest animal painter Jean Baptiste Oudry’s realistic life-size masterpieces. | M&C Saatchi, Los Angeles, USA }

{ Coop’s Paints, Columbus Ohio }

READ MORE >> advertising | January 12th, 2007