# Lisa Marie Presley billboards **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 15, 2023, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lisa-marie-presley-billboards/978261 "2023-01-15T16:16:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2023, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lisa-marie-presley-billboards/978261/1 "2023-01-15T16:16:34Z")
In case you weren’t aware, LMP died the other day. Yesterday I had occasion to drive down 2 major Chicago area expressways - The Eisenhower and 294. Both of them had numerous electronic billboards, simply stating her name and the dates of her birth and death on a black background. Did anyone else notice those? Does anyone have an idea of who paid for those billboards? I don’t readily recall any similar billboards for any other celebrities following their deaths. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2023, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lisa-marie-presley-billboards/978261/2 "2023-01-15T16:44:39Z")
I didn’t even realize she was a celebrity. I knew she was the Pelvis’s kid, and she married Michael Jackson, and then no awareness of her until the death notices. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2023, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lisa-marie-presley-billboards/978261/3 "2023-01-15T17:08:25Z")
Yeah - all I knew of her was a faint recollection of her short-lived celeb marriages, and some substance abuse. But these billboards almost challenged the hair restoration ones (a reference any Chicago driver of the tri-state will understand!) Someone had to contract and pay for these signs. Anyone see them in any other markets? ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2023, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lisa-marie-presley-billboards/978261/4 "2023-01-15T18:39:38Z")
Aside from family, why would anyone care to put it on a billboard? Of all the “who are they” billboard celebrities, she’s the second “who are they-ist”, behind Angelyne. (who will now and forever be number 1) ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2023, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lisa-marie-presley-billboards/978261/5 "2023-01-15T18:53:56Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Aside from family, why would anyone care to put it on a billboard? I suspect that any celebrity, even the minor ones, has a group of fervent fans; all it takes is one fervent fan with a bunch of cash. But, in this case, it may be less about Lisa Marie, and more about her late father – Elvis still has a _ton_ of fans, and the billboards might well have been purchased by an Elvis fan. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2023, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lisa-marie-presley-billboards/978261/6 "2023-01-15T19:27:23Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Did anyone else notice those? Does anyone have an idea of who paid for those billboards? I don’t readily recall any similar billboards for any other celebrities following their deaths. I’m in the Boston area, and I saw one for Pele recently. I was wondering if the billboard company might have arranged for it on their own; maybe they had some excess time that they hadn’t been able to sell, or just wanted to get people talking about them. ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2023, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lisa-marie-presley-billboards/978261/7 "2023-01-15T19:41:44Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Aside from family, why would anyone care to put it on a billboard? Of all the “who are they” billboard celebrities, she’s the second “who are they-ist”, behind Angelyne. (who will now and forever be number 1) Well. The movie **Get Shorty** includes multiple shots of [Angelyne billboards](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angelyne), but I did not know they were a real thing. As for who would put up Lisa Marie billboards (other than family), I think some Presley fans have a special level of crazy. Similar to fans of the former president or akin to early Beatlemania, but more enduring. Putting up billboards would be unsurprising. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2023, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lisa-marie-presley-billboards/978261/8 "2023-01-15T21:40:56Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > I didn’t even realize she was a celebrity. I knew she was the Pelvis’s kid, and she married Michael Jackson, and then no awareness of her until the death notices. Indeed, until she died no one seemed to give a damn about her. Now the tabloids are acting like it’s Armageddon. Sorry she died, but she was known mainly for whom she was having sex with. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2023, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lisa-marie-presley-billboards/978261/9 "2023-01-15T21:46:24Z")
It’s common for fan clubs, especially the really big ones, to rent billboards promoting their idols. Here’s one article: > **[K-Pop Fans Spend Big On Times Square Ads Promoting Their Favorite Stars](https://www.forbes.com/sites/tamarherman/2017/12/21/k-pop-fans-spend-big-on-times-square-ads-promoting-their-favorite-stars/)** > > Fans of Korean pop stars spend thousands of dollars on Times Square billboards to celebrate the achievements and life events of their favorite celebrities. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2023, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lisa-marie-presley-billboards/978261/10 "2023-01-15T22:48:11Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I’m in the Boston area, and I saw one for Pele recently. Hmm - I don’t recall seeing one for Pele - or any other previous celebs. Driving the one road I saw 1 in each direction. Driving longer not he other road, I saw at least 10 total. Your idea of filling extra space seems plausible, but I can’t recall other “fillers” on the electronic billboards. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2023, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lisa-marie-presley-billboards/978261/11 "2023-01-15T23:03:10Z")
When Prince died, the Twin Cities had a number of tribute billboards. I think it was the billboard companies that paid for them; they were so notable that they were like advertising for the billboards themselves. [Prince Billboards](https://www.mlive.com/business/west-michigan/2016/04/prince_tribute_on_billboards_n.html) ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2023, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lisa-marie-presley-billboards/978261/12 "2023-01-15T23:18:31Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Hmm - I don’t recall seeing one for Pele - or any other previous celebs. I saw a couple for Pele in the Chicago area a couple of weeks ago (i.e., immediately after he’d died). ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2023, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lisa-marie-presley-billboards/978261/13 "2023-01-15T23:20:19Z")
I guess I tend to only be on the expressways on the weekends. Not sure when Pele died, but the billboards might be relatively short-lived. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2023, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lisa-marie-presley-billboards/978261/14 "2023-01-15T23:39:13Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Your idea of filling extra space seems plausible, but I can’t recall other “fillers” on the electronic billboards. I’ve seen billboards advertising open positions for billboard installers. Not filler, exactly, but amusingly self-referential. I don’t really know what the economics are for billboard companies these days. I still see plenty of the old, permanent (you know what I mean) types; they show one ad for a month (or whatever) and require some labor to change. The video ones must cost more originally, but can rotate among different ads and don’t cost anything to change. I don’t know what happens if they don’t sell all their available time; maybe they could show a weather forecast or dad jokes. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2023, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lisa-marie-presley-billboards/978261/15 "2023-01-15T23:58:56Z")
I heard some of her “music.” It was auto-tuned to the max. She was the Elvis version of Sean Lennon; yeah, I heard some of his output too. He looks like his father, and inherited his mother’s musical ability. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2023, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lisa-marie-presley-billboards/978261/16 "2023-01-17T20:21:39Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I don’t know what happens if they don’t sell all their available time; maybe they could show a weather forecast or dad jokes. I’ve seen electronic billboards showing weather info, and “Have a Nice Day”-style messages, as well as ads for the billboard company itself; I suspect that all of those are filler for when they have open spots in that board’s rotation. ---
**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 18, 2023, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lisa-marie-presley-billboards/978261/17 "2023-01-18T03:18:14Z")
A quick dip into Google suggests that a Chicago electronic billboard runs about [$420 a week](https://fliphound.com/billboard-advertising/Illinois/Chicago) for “quarter slots” (one display every four minutes), $840 for half-slots or $1680 for a slot every minute. That actually seems surprisingly affordable and well within the reach of some super-fan or fan group. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2023, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lisa-marie-presley-billboards/978261/18 "2023-01-18T04:28:31Z")
Wow!?! That’s it. I was wondering as for the last two weeks I’ve been seeing a billboard for someone who just made partner at a law firm and was wondering … wow, they must’ve spent a pretty penny for that! But at $420 a week for a quarter slot (and this one was either a quarter or a half), I’d rent that out to say whatever bullshit I feel like for the week. “Emus are the secret to happiness” and keep them commuters on the Stevenson perplexed. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2023, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lisa-marie-presley-billboards/978261/19 "2023-01-23T04:02:32Z")
That’s another nice thing about Hawaii. Billboards in any way, shape or form are outlawed and have been from early on. Always a little odd to see them when I go to the mainland.