A Brief History of Out-of-Home Advertising
It was here before radio, before television, and before the internet, and it will be here after whatever comes next.
TRAILHEAD MEDIA · COMPANY NEWS
Out-of-home advertising has a track record almost no other medium can claim: it was here before radio, before television, and before the internet — and it will be here after whatever comes next.
150 Years of Roadside Messages
For roughly 150 years, advertisers have been painting and posting messages where the public will see them. In the 1920s, Burma-Shave turned roadside signs into a genuine cultural phenomenon, with strings of rhyming boards that had drivers slowing down just to read the next line. In 1965, the Highway Beautification Act sought to rein in the industry — and out-of-home adapted and kept growing anyway.
Every "Replacement" Became Another Screen
Every new technology that was supposed to replace out-of-home advertising instead became just one more screen people eventually learned to tune out. The billboard endures for a simple reason: people will always travel, and wherever people travel, there’s a moment to reach them that doesn’t require a login.
The oldest medium in advertising isn’t a relic, it’s a survivor. That history is part of what continues to draw advertisers to out-of-home advertising today.
See some of that history come to life in The Most Unforgettable Billboards in Advertising History.