Cool Outdoor Ads!

There is a number of very creative and cool out door ads that I would like to showcase.




 

 

 

















 





 
 
 

Out-door murals!

This mural is literally right down the road from where I live. It often changes but its always for Adult swim. Its advertising but its also art!


This mural reminds me of graffiti inspired and sometimes advertising tries to look like graffiti when it really isnt.

For some reason when I was taking the picture of this mural outside of a sandwich shop it make me think of Banksy. Banksy is a really popular street artist and he often uses satire to get his point across. Most recently he was spotted in LA and he hit LA hard. His work was seen all over the city and one that got a lot of attention was a billboard that he altered.








 





 Suprisngly there wasnt a lot of backlash on his work. The original billboard was for a Las Vegas ad. The billboard was taken down a day later but the owners of the billboard were pissed because they said they were honored that Banksy would even choose there billboard and display his work. CBS was the ones who took it down and now they claim to own his art work.

Live Nude Fish

 


Every time I drive down Hwy 35 to go up north for whatever reason, whenever I get on the access road I see a sign for Live Nude Fish! Its pretty funny because not to far down the access road is a strip club with Live Nude Girls, there might actually be around three in the area with signs with the words "Live" or "Nude" in them.

Its funny to see the businesses sense of humor since it is around lots of gentlemen clubs. The sign does get attention and is a good advertisement as far as banner and sign ads go. Im the cleaver sign does attract people that would probably never go into a fish store and im sure it makes quite a few sales.

Fun Theory - Fun outdoor activities changing behavior for the better!

Before this semester I had never heard of The Fun Theory. The first time it was shown to me was in my creative advertising class and then again the same day in one of my business management classes. I really liked the concept because its entire mission and initiative is to change human behavior for the better. I also really like the idea that it speaks to certain human truths and plays on actions and behaviors that humans to everyday but dont really think about. I also like that most of The Fun Theories demonstrations take place outdoors! and most of the behaviors that The Fun Theory is trying to change are behaviors that deal with being out of home!

The Fun Theory, http://www.thefuntheory.com/ ,  was launched by the advertising agency DDB Stockholm for VW.  Obviously it was very successful in its measurement of viral videos. The Fun Theory also encourages user generated content. The Fun Theories site says that it "is dedicated to the thought that something as simple as fun is the easiest way to change people’s behaviour for the better. Be it for yourself, for the environment, or for something entirely different, the only thing that matters is that it’s change for the better."

With this concept The Fun Theory asks certain questions such as "Can we get people to obey the speed limit by making it fun to do?" "Can we get more people to throw away trash by making it fun to do?" and "Can we get more people to take the stairs by making it fun to do?" Pretty much The Fun Theory is trying to change peoples behavior for the better by making it fun to do! We all view certain behaviors in a negative light such as throwing away trash or even taking the stairs, when really they could be viewed as fun and positive.



I really like The Fun Theory and its message but really what does this have to do with selling cars? I mean the Fun Theory is a VW campaign. It does give me a positive image about VW now that I associate it with The Fun Theory but it doesn't necessarily make me want to go out and by a VW bug. I guess you cant really measure this campaign in terms of sales. Its not really about that. Its more about branding the VW brand in a positive light that wants to change the world for the better. This type of reputation and positive attitude towards the brand is irreplaceable

Exposed Skin

Whats another way to get peoples attention??

So outdoor advertising has to get peoples attention. It has to break through the clutter and make an impact on people. I would say that the easiest way to do this is to show exposed skin. The outdoor advertising that comes to my mind that shows a lot of skin are the ads and posters for American Apparel.  American Apparel is no stranger to controversy with its hiring policies, hiring only good looking girls, and print ads and its also its out-door ads.


I mean the ads are sticky. I remember them and im sure lots of other people do to. Last summer I spent sometime in San Diego and I would see this same transit ad all over the bus with a girl showing a lot of skin. Not only was the ad showing a lot of skin it was freakin everywhere!! I guess it got stuck in my mind otherwise I wouldent be talking about this particular subject.




 


When American Apparel was first opening up on Guadalupe across from UT I remember there was a little bit of talk about the giant poster on the store front that showed a girls ass. I mean the poster was huge and the girls ass was huge. It was pretty funny to me and the poster definately got a lot of looks and it made a huge buzz around Austin. After the poster had been up for awhile it had quite a lot of graffiti with words like "smut" and "whore." Across the street from my apartment on those street electrical boxes there used to be an American Apparel poster. I never really noticed it even tho it had a partially nude girl on it until someone graffitied on it and make a penis going into the girls mouth and wrote something really gross. It was pretty funny to me and ill probably think of that poster whenever I see other posters that are similar.

I saw this stupid ad everywhere on buses!!!

Personally I do not mind or care about American Apparel or other ads that show a lot of skin. I mean I understand why people get upset. I dont have kids or need to shield anyone's eyes and im not against showing the human body lol.



American apparel isnt the only brand that uses skin to sale there brand. Lots of other brands put up giant posters of body parts and exposed skin to gain attention. We all know its a universal truth that sex sales, or at least we think it sales but it definitely does gain attention.

Posters

I usually see a lot of posters on construction hallways on University of Texas Campus. I really like posters and I like when there is a lot of posters in a row. I think this gets the message across through repetition of course. Posters area  better way to target a local or regional audience and I usually see posters for local events such as concerts or festivals.











 I have seen Ray Band posters around tho. I used to see a lot more Ray Ban posters in Austin but since then they have become all raggidy and crappy looking. The bad thing about posters is when they get torn up they look pretty bad and usually are not taken down for a very long time.



These Ray Ban posters really make use of color. They stood out and broke through the clutter and they are in fact very memorable to me.

Posters can increase brand awareness at a relatively low cost if placed in the right location. Sometimes posters can be HUGE and placed on the side of a building. A huge poster that I remember was the Lebron James poster on a building in Cleveland. When Lebron left to play for Miami Heat they took down this huge poster but the next day it reappeared! They they took it down again and it reappeared again!
 

Maybe Nike kept putting it up for more attention because there was a lot of media coverage on the subject.



I have placed a couple of posters around campus myself mostly promoting upcoming bands shows at a certain club or bar. Around campus posters are placed on those columns around campus.

 It is very hard sometimes to break through the clutter on those column things sometimes because there are so many flyers, ads, and posters posted on one wall. A lot of people think the columns are tacky and ugly but really I dont mind them. I might rather have all my ads and events contained to one area than all around town.

Outdoor FAIL

Sometimes advertisements just FAIL! Either the concept it just absolutely terrible or there is very poor placement or its just done horribly. Sometimes outdoor ads are bad on purpose to provoke some sort of reaction. For whatever reason there are just some really bad or poorly placed outdoor ads and here is just a couple of them for your viewing pleasure.