Gas Station Advertising

Commercial messages and political campaign displays have been found in the ruins of ancient Arabia. Egyptians used papyrus to create sales messages and wall posters, while lost-and-found advertising on papyrus was common in Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. Wall or rock painting for commercial advertising is another manifestation of an ancient advertising form, which is present to this day in many parts of Asia, Africa, and South America.

The tradition of wall painting can be traced back to Indian rock-art paintings that date back to 4000 B.C. As printing developed in the 15th and 16th century, advertising expanded to include handbills. 17th century advertising started to appear in weekly newspapers in England. These early print advertisements were used mainly to promote: books and newspapers, which became increasingly affordable with advances in the printing press; and medicines, which were increasingly sought after as disease ravaged Europe. However, false advertising and so-called “quack” advertisements became a problem, which ushered in the regulation of advertising content.

One tactic referred to as stealth marketing causes an interaction with the target audience and product without them even knowing they are the target of a marketing campaign. Such a tactic has even included paid actors requesting that a group of people take their picture or even video games with gadgets ‘made’ by a particular company. Some controversy has been caused but this type of non-traditional advertising because certain ways of implementing this type of marketing has said to make the intended audience feel insulted because of the way their marketing ploy was implemented.

But not all non-traditional advertising is created the same. Even with a majority of intended viewers ignoring straight forward advertising there are ways of grabbing consumers attention and the most effective ways of advertising have been geared towards connecting with the intended demographic. Creativity is a huge part of capturing attention but also exposure time, with limited distractions. So where do people spend a significant amount of time that will allow for this type of exposure? Full-color poster bathroom advertising has certainly shown this type of potential with 1 to 3 minute exposure time and the potential for a viewers undivided attention. After all there is not much else to stare at other then then straight in front of you.