Wanna Be Human Billboard

Why would you want to use human props as billboards? You don't know what Am talking about, do you? Well, Drug Fair is going out of business. This is not unusual, after all hundreds of other big companies have gone out of business in the past year alone. What is unusual is their manner of advertising that they are going out of business and that they have goods worth 70% or more off at discount prices. Apart from a huge banner lapel on the buildings, I noticed people holding billboard props along Route 10 and 46 advertising the discounted prices. I should also mention that this is a technique also used by furniture stores closing shop and many others. It made me wonder, how effective is it to have people stand behind props all day? how much are they paid anyway? Does this work?

I did a little digging on Wikipidea and found quite interesting info. Here you go.. Sign-holders are known as human directionals in the advertising industry, or colloquially as sign walkers or sign twirlers. Frequently, they will spin or dance with the promotional sign in order to attract attention. Human billboards have been used for centuries. In 19th century London, the practice began when advertising posters became subject to a tax and competition for wall space became fierce. Human directionals are still widely used, especially in areas that have a lot of pedestrian traffic, but even in places that have a great deal of automobile traffic. However, the use of such attention-grabbing tricks has been criticized by city officials as being distracting to drivers and as a result, a number of cities have banned sign twirling. Demand for human directionals has significantly increased over the last few years. In temperate and warm locations, sign holders can be employed year-round and their effectiveness has been amply demonstrated.

OK enough of Wikipedia! Aish! Turning yourself into a human billboard can make you money (sort of). What I didn't get is how much these guys are paid. Simply hired only indicated that they get between $15.00 to $100.00 and lunch.

By the way, my favorite human billboard is that of Tim Tebow, the first sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy, who has sought to spread his message of faith as far as possible.

The bottom line is this: When we pay attention to something, it seems to become brighter, more distinct, more memorable. Our decision to pay attention, in other words, changes how our brains work.