IRL is an acronym for in-real-life.  It was first used only in the 1980’s (e.g. my IRL name is Dave) and then spread to texting after 2000 along with abbreviated phrases like LOL, OMG and IMHO.  Now the out of home industry is attempting to repurpose IRL. Here’s OUTFRONT CEO Nick Brien at the May 2026 JP Morgan Technology, Media & Communications conference:

“We’re reframing out-of-home and increasingly talking about IRL — In Real Life. Television is in-home; we’re in real life. IRL brand experiences are part of the value proposition for why brands need to be integrated into our medium as part of their Omni-channel strategy. It’s starting to resonate.”

We don’t buy the logic in that statement.  In-home isn’t real life and outside-the-home is real life?  They’re both life.  A bigger objection to IRL is that we are starting to use industry shorthand at the same time when we talk about the need to make out of home accessible and the need to expand our market share and bring in new buyers.  The way you make something accessible is to use plain english.   IRL might work with a young media buyers (e.g. OUTFRONT’s market) but we think if falls flat with small business owners, the finance types who pay the bills and older buyers.  Maybe a better solution would be to to refer to out of home as real-world or in-person advertising.

What do you think of IRL.  Email davewestburg@billboardinsider.com or take our readers poll below and we’ll run a follow-up article.