Dear Editor,
In reading the article in the May 29, 2019 edition of the Western Wheel I strongly feel that all billboards should be banned in the province.
The billboards that are simply a tarp on a rusty old trailer are an eyesore at best.
These trailers are not installed properly and get blown over in strong winds then left that way for a long time.
I drive to Edmonton on a regular basis for work this week driving up I counted at least six signs laying on their side from Red Deer to Leduc and they have been laying on the ground for some time.
As an experienced businessperson I can safely say billboard advertising is the most ineffective form of advertising available in today’s world of technology. Any statistics you read about this form of advertising comes from the advertising companies that sell it.
Towns/cites in Alberta provide uniform signs that outline the businesses present within the town.
They are all in the same format without being unsightly, people know if they are coming to a town and looking for a specific business, they can look on the signs and get useful information. Local businesses can have their names on these signs at the cost of paying business tax.
In today’s world if you go online to look at the news or shop you get all the advertising you can handle, and you are not driving a vehicle being distracted. If one form of a billboard is unacceptable, all should be unacceptable, the province cannot pick and choose who can have one. It’s against the law to dump garbage on the side of the road so it should be against the law to park a derelict trailer on the side of the road.
The companies that are using these trailers are being allowed to sell advertising at a low cost to the detriment of people that see the trailer advertising as an eyesore on the landscape.
We have beautiful scenery in our province, but we allow roadside junkyards in the name of advertising. The people that are buying this advertising are being duped into thinking it’s effective.
The demographics of advertising and the fact that artificial intelligence and block-chain technology are being used to target the different demographics in our society makes this type of advertising look foolish.
That technology is used on very expensive digital billboards that are also, literally, an eyesore. In the wintertime when it’s only light for a short period how can you read the signs?
The advertisers are only getting a third of the visibility they get in summer.
Buying advertising like this is like buying a car with a hand crank sticking out the front to start it. I would never frequent a business that uses this form of advertising.
Daniel John Robson
Okotoks
