# Mobile Billboards **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 27, 2007, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mobile-billboards/420649 "2007-09-27T06:13:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mobile-billboards/420649/1 "2007-09-27T06:13:18Z")
Why are these things allowed? They contribute to traffic and pollution… and, I guess, capitalism. Did I just answer my own question? It’s a truck with a cab and nothing else but a big sign on the back. No real cargo. No passengers. Just a huge sign… on wheels. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Pullet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Pullet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pullet)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mobile-billboards/420649/2 "2007-09-27T06:16:58Z")
But it’s COOL. Actually, since novelty is its only advantage as an advertising medium, the more there are, the less effective they will be. ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mobile-billboards/420649/3 "2007-09-27T06:32:50Z")
Why are they allowed? Because advertising is allowed,and if you put a sign on a building, you need to comply with local ordinances, pay a fee, blah, blah, and things that don’t change fail to attact the attention of Joe Average who…OOH SHINY! only notices new shite. So, rather than have a fixed billboard, you put it on wheels, haul it around town, escape many of the ordinances, keep it fresh, for Joe Average and his nanosecond attention span, and mebbe employ a couple of folks at Mobile Signs R Us, too. Or my hypothesis is full of crap. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mobile-billboards/420649/4 "2007-09-27T06:33:22Z")
I agree they are lame, and people are usually paying more attention to what’s on the billboard than the traffic. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mobile-billboards/420649/5 "2008-02-26T16:23:27Z")
I missed this thread before but found it on a search after encountering one of [these](http://www.buzzmobileads.com/) godforsaken, despicable BUZZ contraptions on the way home yesterday. _“There is a lot of advertising clutter in the world today. And with Tivo™, satellite radio, and pop-up blockers, people are avoiding traditional advertising, making it less and less effective.”_ So you’ve found a new way to force the crap on people they’re emphatically trying to avoid? These suuuuuuuuck!!! - They distract the attention of drivers from where it should be, watching the road. - They increase congestion on what can be already overcrowded streets. - They waste gasoline and further pollute the atmosphere, doing nothing more than just driving around, at a time when everyone’s consciousness should be raised about prudent conservation. Any one of these reasons should be a deal breaker, yet here the goddamn things are. I hate 'em and will not only avoid doing commerce with any business that advertises on them, but will contact said company to voice my displeasure as well. _Sign_ of the apocalypse, indeed. Okay, maybe just the mini-apocalype… but they still suck.