Scenic America Chairman Mark Falzone did an interview in St Louis on the September 18 Charlie Brennan show. His comments start just past the 12:55 minute mark of the podcast. Insider has printed some of the questions and Falzone’s answers.
Just exactly where does Missouri rank when it comes to billboards.
In the midwest, its one of the worst when it comes to billboards. There’s a high number of billboards especially when it’s compared to the miles of highway…When you’re driving down the interstate as I was yesterday you’re just getting billboard after billboard after billboard…Its an assault on the visual senses.
Response to a caller who said that billboards keep you awake on long boring drives.
The problem with that is that there have been many many studies on distracted driving. And digital billboards that change every 6 seconds or so they show that yes they keep you awake but when you’re looking at them they lead to accidents.
Have you seen the Anheuser Busch eagle…on highway 40?
That’s alright. I think there are certain things that make a locality unique.
I like Trafalger Square and Times Square. Would you disagree?
No. It’s all about context. The billboards in Times Square are part of what makes it Times Square….It’s like the Vegas Strip. Could you imagine the Vegas strip without colors…
Is the billboard lobby influential?
Very. As a matter of fact I was talking about this house resolution…a non-binding house resolution that just said let’s consider scenic for I-70 and not only was it squashed by the billboard industry but then they went out and started a billboard PAC.
I’m a small business owner…if you have a small business and are trying to think of creative ways to advertise what would you recommend…because you do get a lot of visibility with billboards.
In a former life I did some media buying. There’s television. Radio is very affordable and would allow you to do repetition. There’s newspapers, there’s online…There’s also email marketing. I would actually argue that billboards are not that effective when it comes to marketing your business.
Insider’s take: Insider wonders if Scenic America is up to something in Missouri. Falzone said lots of studies prove digital billboards cause accidents but neglected to mention the definitive Federal Highway Administration study which found digital billboards don’t distract drivers. Billboards aren’t effective advertising? Look at this webpage. A Missouri business using Missouri billboards to create Missouri jobs and pay Missouri taxes. Go back to Maryland, Mr Falzone.
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