If you have ever driven across Interstate 90 in the eastern portion of Washington State you are certain to see lots of wheat, corn and canola along the Interstate.  What you will not see are very many billboards, as obtaining off-premise permits along the federal Interstate in the Evergreen State is near impossible.  Insider was surprised this week to hear from Tom Townsend the GM of Spokane based Emerald Outdoor, and a fellow billboard nerd, who spotted this advertising campaign near Moses Lake (think middle of nowhere).

Hard not to notice a string of advertising vinyls all on hay bales. There are 10 plus west of Moses Lake and probably close to 20 east of Moses Lake on both sides of I-90. In some cases they are set up like the Burma Shave signs or Little America in Wyoming. One even fell down. Looks like the vinyls are around 10×24.

It’s brilliant! Cheap to build with hay bales, and the vinyl can be reused year after year. Really curious what the State of Washington thinks as I am not sure about how legal this is? If they are not, the “official” process to have them removed probably takes months so it is a moot point. What a great idea!

Insider’s Take: It did not take much research to discover that the Adventure Farm, as they call it, is a rebrand and expansion by a farming family in the Moses Lake, WA community. To promote their concept they came up with the hay bale billboards.  We wish them well and it will be interesting to find out if the Washington State Department of Transportation will have any issues with the 20 mile or so stretch of Interstate.  What are the chances that they own all that land and they can call them an on-premise sign?

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