The outdoor advertising industry’s commitment to public service on both a local and national scale dates back nearly 100 years.
Few industries have made such a significant commitment to public service as the outdoor advertising industry. From monetary value of donated space to the actual impact of the messages they post, the outdoor advertising industry’s public service is invaluable. The outdoor advertising industry donates tens of millions of dollars in their public service efforts across the country. Here in Ohio, the outdoor advertising industry donates more than $2 million to local and statewide public service efforts each year.
In recent years, the outdoor advertising industry has offered its advertising breadth to the state of Ohio through a special Public Service campaign. The Outdoor Advertising Association of Ohio developed a special rate for poster displays for state agencies and departments on either a statewide or targeted market basis. During the COVID pandemic, OAAO members donated digital ad space to the state for messaging informing Ohioans about issues such as masking, staying home, and social distancing in the early stages of the pandemic.
More recently, OAAO members participated in a digital campaign informing Ohioans about the upcoming America Sesquicentennial Celebration, the America 250 - Ohio campaign. Prior campaigns have included O-Plates, on-line vehicle registration for the Department of Public Safety; Save the Dream, Ohio’s home foreclosure prevention efforts for the Department of Commerce; the Con Artist campaign warning Ohioans to be careful where they invest their money for the Department of Commerce, and Smoke Alarms, for Ohio’s Fire Prevention Week for the State Fire Marshal’s Office.
Public service has always been an important component of the outdoor advertising industry’s priorities. Public service announcements are viewed as a responsibility by the industry as demonstrated by its long standing practice of filling open boards with messages from the inspirational to safety concerns. Some organizations using billboards included the Mothers Against Drunk Driving, NAACP, American Red Cross, Boy Scouts of America, Crime Stoppers, March of Dimes, numerous churches and drug prevention awareness programs.
Billboard project features paintings of 5 central Ohio artists
Click here for the article featured in The Columbus Dispatch
