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| April 2000
Image Sales Spring from Holes in the Ground Construction sites prove to be good spots for ads Your store advertises in the newspaper, in local magazines, on radio and television and maybe on billboards. But how about holes in the ground? In some cities, the plywood fencing around construction sites has become a hot medium for just that purpose, says The Wall Street Journal. Unlike traditional billboards that are mounted high above the street and require pedestrians to look up, construction barricades are perfectly positioned – at street level – for maximum effect. In Manhattan’s Times Square, which is undergoing a rebuilding boom, advertising at construction sites has attracted the likes of Calvin Klein, Timberland, Omega and many movie studios. “Developers used to think they should be as inconspicuous as possible for as long as possible,” says Kevin O’Callaghan, president of Universal Builders Supply Inc., a Mount Vernon, NY, scaffold supplier. “Now they don’t care if there’s a hole in the ground and they’re six months from starting construction. ‘Let’s put the barricades up for advertising,’ they say.” Scaffolding and barricades are even being redesigned for advertising purposes. In Los Angeles last year, a developer had begun erecting the usual barricades around a $430 million retail, hotel and entertainment complex when an executive suggested a larger barricade more suitable for advertising. The barrier was last seen sporting a 17-by-900-ft. display for the Walt Disney Co. movie Inspector Gadget. – by Mark E. Dixon
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