The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly ... Billboards

 Billboards are a form of advertising that makes it very easy to get a message to a large number of people. The message is also displayed 24/7, and for weeks, months, or even a year. Billboards are generally a
low cost type of advertisement and available in a variety of areas locally, or all over the world. Billboards
are viewed by most people as they are driving buy, so in order for the audience members to obtain the full message of the advertisement and to be the most effective, the billboard should be visually catchy, use the least amount of words as possible, and be creative. Below are three examples of billboard advertisements that I think are good, great, and not so good.

This billboard is one that I believe is good. The message isn't wordy, and it is easy to read. The web address is easy to remember, so the audience members would be able to recall it later, when they are able to access the internet. Even though the billboard is lacking pictures, the visual of a cigarette butt being put out in an ash tray is a great representation of quitting smoking. This unique and creative idea is better than any picture could be. 

This billboard is one that I believe is great! Chick-Fil-A is a leader in the creative advertisement category.  The mascot of the fast food restaurant that serves only chicken, are COWS! The message that the cows always try to push to the audience is that eating chicken is better than eating beef, as in to not eat them. The main tagline or slogan for this brand is "Eat Mor Chikin". The cows are known to be creative, as well as bad spellers! In recent years, the cows have been"painting" a variety of messages on billboards such as "Weer not Bathing Til U Eat Chikin", and "Burgerz R 4 Loserz. I'm Just Sayin". There are always two cows on the billboards posting the messages. These characters are fun and stand out from other billboards. 

This billboard is one that I believe is not so good. As a student at CSU-Pueblo and a resident of Colorado Springs, CO, I can honestly say I have never seen a billboard advertisement for my college. I am assuming that this is a part of a new advertising, marketing, and or student recruitment technique. Many colleges and universities use a variety of techniques to increase their enrollment and spread awareness of the highlights of their school, such as degree programs or athletic programs. However, I believe that this billboard could be improved dramatically. Sure it has a good message, but it is quite boring and does not grab people's attention very well. It is great to see the university's official colors and logo incorporated in the billboard, but I believe that the logo should be much bigger, at least take up 1/3 of the space, and the web address is too small. Another idea would be to include a picture of happy students or  an action packed sports shot. Overall, the idea is okay, but it needs many improvements and more creativity to make it a better ad/billboard.