“When the highwayman holds his gun to your head, you turn your valuables over to him. You 'consent' alright, but you do so because you cannot help yourself, because you are compelled by his gun.” »» Alexander Berkman

What’s Old Is New Again

Posted on September 25, 2007
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One of the things that really got me hooked on road trippin’ was finding the massive advertisements painted on the roofs of barns all around the Midwest. By the time I was discovering these ads for the first time most of them were fading and the barns which held them decaying. Many of the products or companies being advertised no longer existed, but their ads were hanging in there for a few more years.

Now, a company called Ad-Air has brought back the concept of ads for the air, though they’re a bit more focused and, of course, much larger. They’re placing advertisements of 20,000m², approx 5 acres in size, flat on the ground alongside the flight paths in and out of the world’s busiest airports. I’m sure there are plenty of people who are ticked off about these massive spam “billboards”, but I figure the landowners who are (hopefully) leasing the land to Ad-Air are making a pretty penny for giving up so much space.

I don’t know how farmable land in flight paths would be, but I know from experience it’s no pleasure to live in. I’m glad such property owners are able to turn some kind of profit on their investment. I just don’t get how this concept is seen as innovative, when it was being done at least 50 years ago on barns across America.

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