For many years the billboard advertiser has had a free hand with the local landscape, and the result has become a little too overwhelming for even an essentially commercial people like our own. Gradually the aesthetic element in the population became audible on the subject, particularly since even artists have been able to afford automobiles.
At the same time, the advertisers began to have their doubts about the actual value of billboard advertising. In some highly competitive industries, such as auto tires, the expense became heavy and uneconomic for everyone. The plea of somewhat fluttery women’s committees to ban the billboard consequently fell on welcome ears. It provided a graceful method whereby business executives could retire from an overcostly method of promotion without admitting that the pace was getting too strong.
The retirement from billboard advertising was begun by Standard Oil of California, Kelly Springfield Tire and others. The latest convert to “preserving the natural beauties of our landscape” is R. A. Stranahan, President of the Champion Spark Plug Co. Also, the Washburn Crosby Co. announces its retirement from the field. The movement is apparently not unrelated to the recent sale of securities of billboard advertising companies to the public in Wall Street. Legislators are now talking of flatly prohibiting billboard advertising along the highways in eastern states.
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