Who Benefits from Billboards?

Photo by Lauren Coleman on Unsplash

I was driving late at night, on my way to my next workshop. The hotel that my office had booked for me was supposed to be along this highway. It should have been getting close. My GPS was on the fritz. I searched for a sign to tell me what exit I should take. Problem was, I hadn’t seen a sign for the last fifty-seven miles. All I saw were dark outlines of trees.

There were no street lights along this road. This was a “Scenic Byway.” I found out later that this four-hundred and forty-mile road had no billboards or street lamps.

Meanwhile, I kept driving on this dark night. Only had two bars left on my gas gauge. Where was this hotel? Suddenly, I nearly bypassed a tiny, barely visible sign at an unlit exit. My car swerved onto the exit ramp. Found my hotel up ahead. Pulling into the parking lot, I thanked my lucky stars, but no thanks to the “Scenic Byway.”

Since that day, I’ve witnessed a war against billboards, and all forms of “scenic pollution.” Yet, as someone who has driven across a good portion of America, I always appreciated the ability to know what’s up ahead via the local color that billboards offer.

I wrote the following article to show my appreciation for billboards. It was in answer to an anti-billboard group that had ended their diatribe with the question: “Who benefits from billboards?” Whether you’re a fan of these signs or not, I invite you to read my reply.

Who benefits from billboards? 
Ask the graphic artists, carpenters, clerks, electricians, executives, laborers, machine operators, managers, painters, receptionists, sheet metal workers, tradespeople—all those whose living depends on the industry.

Who benefits from billboards? 
Ask the motorists who are kept alert, informed, awake, and sometimes amused as they travel our highways. Ask the public service organizations who depend on the immediacy of billboards. Ask the motel and travel industries which rely on the great scale of billboards to highlight their services quickly and efficiently. Ask the advertisers who must distinguish themselves in the minds of the traveling public.

Who benefits from billboards? 
Ask the business people who struggle to keep the economy growing as they advertise their products and services. Ask the craftspeople, engineers, laborers, salespeople, factory and office workers who are employed by these companies. Ask the consumers who are kept informed of the latest products, services, and trends. Ask the travelers who relish not only the information that billboards supply, but the splashes of color, light, and creativity in a sometimes monotonous, unvaried landscape.

Who benefits from billboards? 

Ask the historians who remember the role billboards played in the political and economic history of the United States. Ask the political scientists who recognize that billboards are living symbols of our capitalist economy, proclaiming the goods, services, and ideas of a free nation. Ask the economists who are looking hopefully to our future as we catapult further into the global economy. Ask the futurists who see billboards as vital life signs and show windows to the future.

Who benefits from billboards? 
Ask the individuals driving across America who like billboards and resents paternalistic government limiting freedom of choice and information. Ask the independent thinker who recognizes that our economic freedom is an integral component of our political freedom... and that the attempt to curtail or limit economic freedom and speech diminishes all freedom. And finally ask yourself, “Who benefits from billboards?”

-

Ken West is the author of Achieve Your Purpose! (Formerly titled, Get What You Want; both editions are available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.) Ken is a former president of the Association of Objectivist Businessmen, and the New England chapter of the National Speakers Association. He’s also is combat veteran, having served as a U.S. Army paratrooper.