The Renaissance of Outdoor Advertising: From Harlem to Hong Kong

This paper explores the reasons for the increase in “outdoor advertising” (OA) expenditures worldwide and the impact of billboards on our cities. Since 2006, a portable device that measures billboard exposure became widely available, thus setting up a rating system like that of other forms of media. Additionally, high-resolution digital printing and state-of-the-art electronic display units enabled a resurgence in the popularity of billboards. Corinthian-pillared buildings, gothic archways, monuments, and colossal skyscrapers once defined the architectural landscape of our cities. Today outdoor advertising overpowers those landmark giants in the cities in which we live and work, as advertisers find it progressively more difficult to reach people through other media. Gargantuan billboards and other manifestations of this industry make this metamorphosis possible in urban and rural areas, from Harlem to Hong Kong.