# Advertising on the space shuttle? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 30, 1999, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-on-the-space-shuttle/5740 "1999-12-30T20:24:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Yarster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/7c8e57/32.png) [@Yarster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yarster)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 1999, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-on-the-space-shuttle/5740/1 "1999-12-30T20:24:00Z")
O.k., we’ve all seen NASA launching tinkertoys at Mars for what seems like the last few years, and I for one would like to see my tax dollars spent somewhere else. Why doesn’t NASA, use their high profile space vehicles as advertising space to defray the cost of their missions? You can’t tell me there wouldn’t be a million ‘global’ companies trying to advertise that message given the chance. How about it… This shuttle launch brought to you by Coca-Cola…the soft drink for this planet…and beyond? ---
**Author:** ![Yarster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/7c8e57/32.png) [@Yarster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yarster)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 1999, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-on-the-space-shuttle/5740/2 "1999-12-30T20:26:00Z")
Whoops, I also meant to ask whether there is some reason (i.e. legal) that you COULDN’T do this. I’m sure the actual reason is because it would be tacky… ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 1999, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-on-the-space-shuttle/5740/3 "1999-12-30T20:51:00Z")
I think it has something to do with government agencies not being allowed to take private gifts in return for favors. Although, for even greater market penetration, maybe Coke could look into having their logo stenciled onto the sides of our tanks and planes. Wasn’t there some bit of attention way back when given to the idea of Coca-Cola making a satellite-slash-billboard that’d float in low orbit and invite us to have a Coke and a smile while we gazed upon the moon? I can swear hearing about it years ago, but then again, poor Coca-Cola is the butt of so many UL’s, I’m tempted to write the whole thing off as a trick of the memory. * * * “I guess one person can make a difference, although most of the time they probably shouldn’t.” ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 1999, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-on-the-space-shuttle/5740/4 "1999-12-31T01:27:00Z")
It seems to me that a couple of years ago there was a launch of a rocket that had either a Pepsi or Pizza Hut logo on its side. ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 1999, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-on-the-space-shuttle/5740/5 "1999-12-31T01:34:00Z")
Yeah, it was Pizza hut, I think. I forget which country launched it, though. It would be sorta cool, I think, to cram as many ads on as possible, like a NASCAR, lol! * * * “Witnesses said the chained helmets, which directly faced each other on their platforms, seemed increasingly angry and agitated in the moments leading up to the disaster.” ---
**Author:** ![ChiefScott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@ChiefScott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChiefScott)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 1999, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-on-the-space-shuttle/5740/6 "1999-12-31T01:53:00Z")
Anybody remember Tang? ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 1999, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-on-the-space-shuttle/5740/7 "1999-12-31T02:46:00Z")
I think it may have been a Russian rocket with the Pizza Hut logo. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 1999, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-on-the-space-shuttle/5740/8 "1999-12-31T23:46:00Z")
Go here, look close. Not really even subtle. Company logos show up in many photos. Can’t really blame 'em, I guess. [http://www.shuttle.nasa.gov/shuttle/archives/sts-80/images/still/80v026.jpg](http://www.shuttle.nasa.gov/shuttle/archives/sts-80/images/still/80v026.jpg) Peace, mangeorge * * * Wow, 00, I made it! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Soup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/977dab/32.png) [@Soup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soup)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 1999, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-on-the-space-shuttle/5740/9 "1999-12-31T23:48:00Z")
But would Coke have wanted their logo to be the last thing people saw before the Challenger exploded? ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2000, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-on-the-space-shuttle/5740/10 "2000-01-02T02:32:00Z")
Heard a news story the other day about NASA leasing shuttle space to a company for them to sell it to top-dollar-paying tourists. Anyone else hear this or was this the result of hallucinations induced by staying up late in preparation for New Year’s Eve? * * * Well, either you’re closing your eyes to a situation you do not wish to acknowledge or you are not aware of the power of the presence of a pool table in your community. Ya’ got trouble my friends! - Prof. Harold Hill Gary Conservatory Gold Medal Class '05 ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2000, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-on-the-space-shuttle/5740/11 "2000-01-02T02:39:00Z")
Mangeorge, is that some part of the actual shuttle or some satellite it happens to be launching? Anyway, the image is plenty blurry, but I couldn’t make out any well known logos (i.e. Pepsi, Coke, McD’s) so thought they might be telecommunication logos of some sort. Although the top red/white thing does look kind of like a Budweiser logo 😉 * * * “I guess one person can make a difference, although most of the time they probably shouldn’t.” ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2000, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-on-the-space-shuttle/5740/12 "2000-01-03T06:51:00Z")
It is pretty blurry. Doubt if it’s a Bud logo, tho. :0) The pictures I saw were in a calendar and were mostly for electronics firms. The companies who built the components, I’d assume. Associated Research Inc, something like that. Take a look next time you see pictures, you’ll see them. Peace, mangeorge