Billboards have a heyday in humongous traffic jams

WHILE EVERYONE HOLLERS in frustration day in and day out over the unbelievable traffic in the metropolis, big advertisers have taken advantage of what they have brilliantly realized: we have become the captive market of billboards as we sit in our unmoving vehicles!

The best routes for the best billboards that I have taken all begin from Makati, all the way through EDSA, crossing the Pasig River. Or from Makati crossing C5 and the Gokongwei factories and silos to Libis and Eastwood. Or Makati through the Magallanes interchange towards Cubao. These areas lend themselves to drama in billboards, specially when they are all fully lit at night.

If you analyse a typical Filipino reading a page of a newspaper, he will look at an advertisement, its picture, its headline, but will hardly ever bother with long copy or text. Thus, the layout of a billboard truly appeals to him: big illustration, very short copy, most of the time confining the message to what appears as a headline.

You might as well admit it — although our dear friend, creative icon Emily Abrera will not — billboards can be entertaining while their primary objective is still to inform.

There are billboards that are clever and entertaining while effectively delivering their selling message. One is Magnolia’s Free Range Chicken by Publicis Jimbasic. I found the solitary chicken straying physically out of the billboard attention-getting. Then when you read that it’s Magnolia’s free range fowl, you chuckle and say that is why it has flown out of the perimeters of the traditional billboard.

This is similar to what I can only describe as a most nontraditional billboard of the business magazine Entrepreneur. I was looking out the window of one of the tallest buildings in Makati. My eyes looked down and read a message written on the whole span of a bright red roof of a much smaller structure down below: Entrepreneur — For Those at the Very Top. Clever indeed since the magazine was targeted precisely to the very top businessmen and entrepreneurs of any country.

Then there is McDonald’s billboard on its fries.

Lowe’s Brian Lumanog gave the rationale for a great McDonald’s billboard:

“McDonald’s World Famous Fries are so irresistible that if you take your eyes off them — even for just a moment — someone just might snatch a piece (or more!). This phenomenon has been immortalized in various McDonald’s Eyes on Your Fries campaigns. This time, McDonald’s Philippines wanted to tell this story in the biggest way possible — along the stretch of EDSA. But competing with all the billboards in the city, how will people keep their eyes locked onto the Fries?

“On a tall glass office building sitting right along the city’s main most congested thoroughfare, McDonald’s staged a burglary right before everyone’s eyes. With traffic crawling in the area during morning and evening rush hours, thousands witnessed the crime. A fries heist that got people buzzing during the height of the Christmas season.”

Let me end with what a few businessmen do in their cars as they wade through the city’s never ending traffic, oblivious of their surroundings:

Melvin Mangada, chairman and chief creative officer of TBWA\SMP: “I either catch up on bookmarked articles from sites like nytimes.com, bbc.com and Huffington Post, or clean up my album of 26,000 photos!”

Juan Ariel Comia, president and chief creative officer of PC&V Communication: “I either sleep (to de-stress) or work (to be more productive). The best ways to beat the traffic.”

Ric Saludo, strategy adviser and former cabinet secretary: “Every time I drive to and from work, I pray using Divine Office app recorded prayers, listen to The Bible, other audio books, and The Economist articles. Oh, when I’m not driving, I sleep.”

Greg Martin, executive creative director of Ace Saatchi & Saatchi: “It’s great alone time with God. We talk. Sometimes about the traffic. Most times about other things.”

Jos Ortega, CEO of Havas Ortega, works on his computer, happy that he has never had motion sickness. He has loaded his car with adaptors and a couple of regular plugs: it’s another office!

These guys have master-minded the creation of many of their clients’ billboards. Call it satiety?