Giant Ads Set For World's Busiest Runways

Giant Ads Set For World's Busiest Runways

www.reuters.com

Advertisers aiming to reach high-flyers with no alternative distraction will soon have a new method: adverts the size of three football pitches seen by plane passengers coming in to land.

UK-based Ad-Air launched its new service in London on Tuesday, offering brands the chance to place huge adverts near the runways of some of the world's busiest runways.

Ad-Air, backed by 5 million pounds ($10 million) of private equity finance, said it had spent five years securing sites around the world.

(visit the link for the full news article)

As a pilot, I think this is a bad idea. Why not put advertising inside the aircraft instead?

Adding clutter and distraction to the already busy airports is not a good idea. I think most pilot's and Air Traffic Controllers would agree.

www.reuters.com (visit the link for the full news article)

Exactly, AllSeeingI. That was my first thought as well, is that it would be very distracting for the pilots.

Way back in the '30's or so, it was commong practice for an airline to post ads inside the plane - not many people flew then and it was a way for the airlines to make some money to keep the airline going.

This move strikes me as ridiculous.

Actually, I think it's a genius idea.

My question is who will reap the profits? The cities themselves? The airline companies? A combination of both?

If it means cheaper plane tickets I'm all for it.

Edit to add: What the hell is a football pitch?

Peace

[edit on 25-9-2007 by Dr Love]

I guess it was just a matter of time like the football and baseball stadiums. Flight 119er proceed to 'Home Depot' runway, left at 'Ebay' strip and await takeoff. That's progress. (sarcasm)

Hey, a nice big advertising at runway turns might cut down on runway incursions by alerting a pilot to a turn-off. Perhaps Teneriffe would have been avoided with clearer delineation such as a big bright ad at the turn.

More and more FOD control mats are being used at airports, why not paint nice big ads on those to help pay for installation.

I see a few upsides to this, and if properly designed, could even increase airport safety.

You're a pilot? Commercial? If so could you please share what airline?

Seems like a pretty dumb idea. You're only getting exposure to what... 10% of the passengers (the ones with window seats)? Assuming every single one of them is looking out the window. I don't see how they could generate sufficient return on the advertising expense.

Great. Another venue for advertising. Just what we need.

Not to mention the distraction this may cause to pilots during a critical phase of flight, especially since we all know what kind of advertising is the most effective (WARNING: Some individuals may find the actual advertisements in this informational link offensive).

What's next, ads in operating rooms? On fire hoses? We are conditioned to appreciate ads in our western culture. It has become a substitute for art whose sole purpose is to manipulate us into a particular behavior.

Isn't enough enough?