Has anybody noticed that suddenly the revolving signs outside of businesses have disappeared? Either that or they no longer revolve.
Why don’t businesses use revolving signs any more? Very eye-catching…I dug those as a child…
WAGs (#1 most likely)
- Expensive for repair and maintenance (one near my house back north caught fire - really weird, watching the burning sign go around and around til the mechanism burned out)
- Not cost-effective advertising
- Changes in local zoning laws
- Safety hazard/distraction to drivers (least likely)
However, I am noticing more and more marquee signs (the ones with the moving illuminated letters and special effects) outside of businesses and now a local church has a permanent one in Spanish.
Also, several places have the trailer-mount illuminated letter signs (the ones you see about road hazards and construction work) set up on the roadways near the businesses. (D@mn near ended up in an accident because everyone is slamming their brakes on thinking there is roadwork ahead!)
I thought they were neat too. There was one for the 7-11 in my hometown. Besides revolving, it had “7-11” in white neon and a variable background in red neon. It was across the street from the municipal stadium, and I remember watching it rather than the football game I’d gone to. (I was only 5 or 6 at the time.)
But I think that they’re out of style (outside of Las Vegas), and probably too expensive to maintain.
There’s a revolving restaurant near my office, but I don’t think it revolves anymore. At least not in the daytime.
I think zoning regulations are the prime culprit in eliminating revolving signs. They are rather garish in my opinion.
Cost is probably a secondary concern.
I see them in every bar.
Some wag, some rotate, and lots use fiberoptic lights
Also the fake “pouring endlessly from a suspended bottle” fountain.
And the one where a polarizing filter rotates in front of a waterfall photo to make it flow.